The Before Trilogy movies' chronology of events, explained 

Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy- Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight isn't just a story told across three films; it's a quiet, aching meditation on time, love, and the versions of ourselves we become in the spaces between. Told over nearly two decades, each film picks up almost exactly as many years after the last as it took to make them, blurring the line between fiction and lived experience.

We first meet Jesse and Céline as idealistic twenty-somethings wandering Vienna, then as wistful thirty-somethings reconnecting in Paris, and finally as weary yet deeply entangled fortysomethings confronting the messy weight of commitment in Greece.

What makes the Before trilogy linger in your mind long after the credits roll isn’t some wild plot twist or over-the-top romance—it’s the simplicity. The magic lies in two people just... talking. Really talking. Across cities, years, and heartache, Jesse and Céline let us into their world, one conversation at a time. No grand gestures, no clichés—just honesty, tension, awkward pauses, and moments so intimate they feel like memories you’ve lived yourself.

Time becomes its own kind of narrator, reshaping who they are and how they see each other. Whether they’re walking through Vienna or sitting in a hotel room years later, it’s never just about where they are—it’s about who they’ve become. Here’s how their story unfolds and how time threads its way through all three times they meet.

What is the correct order of the Before trilogy?

The chronology of the films is simple. You follow the events that they are based on. You go from a quiet sunset that has goodbyes etched with yearning and hope to the final midnight, where everything has settled. Between those two moments, time doesn’t just pass—it builds them. In Before Sunrise, Jesse and Céline are strangers chasing the thrill of connection, their words spilling out like they’re afraid to waste even a second. Nine years later, in Before Sunset, they’re older but not necessarily wiser, still tethered to a moment they never truly left behind. Their reunion is both electric and fragile, full of what-ifs and almosts.

Then comes Before Midnight, where romance is no longer theoretical. They’ve chosen each other—and now have to stay chosen through the messiness of real life. The setting shifts from dreamy city streets to sunlit kitchens and hotel room arguments, but the core remains: two people trying to make sense of love in real-time.

The trilogy’s chronology may be linear, but emotionally, it loops and twists—because real love isn’t tidy. It ages, it aches, and sometimes, it just sits in silence next to you. And that’s what makes the Before Trilogy feel so alive.

Before Sunrise

The series starts with the young couple meeting on a train in Vienna. Jesse is a writer, and Céline is a French student, as they decide to spend the night together before Céline has to leave before sunrise. That one night is filled with every inch of romance that you must have fantasized about. Endless questions, deep intimacy, stargazing, and wandering through French streets. They spend a lifetime in those few hours as they strip each other of all their pretenses. The film ends on a note of ambiguity as they part ways without having contact with each other.

They do, however, make a promise. That in six months they will meet in that exact place and find each other. The film ends as they embrace each other with a goodbye and then part ways.

Before Sunset

Almost a decade after their last meeting, Jesse is now an established writer and has written a book about Céline. On a book tour, he speaks to fans of the book and talks about where fate took the characters of his story. As he sits explaining, he sees Céline standing in the book shop. They make their way to each other, and Jesse tells her he has to leave before sunset as he has a flight.

It is established that they didn't meet after six months as promised, but it's later revealed that Jesse actually came, as Céline feels guilty for not keeping up with the promise. They talk about their lives- Jesse is married with a kid, and Céline has a boyfriend, but even though there's nothing romantic in the air, that decade-old intimacy and chemistry are still there as they talk about how they're unhappy in their romantic lives.

The film ends with Jesse in Céline's apartment as she plays him a Nina Simone song. They both acknowledge what's going to happen as she tells him that he's going to miss his flight.

Before Midnight

What happens when you finally get the love you have been chasing all your life, and it becomes something real and habitual, and the yearning leaves? That is exactly what Before Midnight explores. In this one, Jesse and Céline are finally together as they are raising two kids and Jesse's son Hank together. This one has less of that chemistry that existed in the other predecessors, as they longed for one another. But just as you rethink things, Jesse and Céline show us how there's beauty in even the monotonous aspects of love and how, although imperfect, it's still better because it's real.

They spend the night at a hotel, where, before things spice up, they are facing off in an argument as Jesse wants to move to another place that will affect Céline's career. After much talking, Céline tells him how she doesn't even love him anymore and walks off.

Céline sits alone at the hotel’s outdoor restaurant, heavy with the weight of their argument. Jesse finds her there and, in a tender attempt to make her smile, pretends he’s a time traveler, calling back to the night they first met. He tells her he’s brought a letter from her 82-year-old self, saying this very evening would be one of the best of her life. She brushes it off, saying their romantic stories can never measure up to the flawed truth they’re living. But Jesse, undeterred, reminds her that while their love may not be perfect, it’s real. There’s a pause, soft, lingering, before Céline finally gives in, slipping back into their shared language of humor. Slowly, the tension melts, and the two find their way back to each other. Again.

The Before trilogy is available to watch on Prime Video