One Trilogy to Save them All

Why Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy might just be the most human saga ever put to film

Picture this: you’re at a dinner with friends you haven’t seen in ages. The food is great, the mood is light, and conversation drifts randomly from work to travel to the weather… until someone throws the bone of contention:

“What’s the best film trilogy of all time?”

The table goes quiet. Forks freeze midair. Everyone looks around, waiting for someone brave enough to go first. Then, one bold soul decides to cross the Rubicon and clears their throat:

“Nothing beats The Lord of the Rings.”

Next thing you know, the lines are drawn.

The LOTR loyalists. The Star Wars defenders. The Godfather purists. The Dark Knight diehards. Someone inevitably starts quoting the Cornetto trilogy. In seconds, your cozy dinner turns into a cinematic gladiator arena.

Everyone’s swinging their swords of opinion… except the one who threw the question in the first place. They’re sitting quietly in the corner, amused. You take your glass and join them, and without looking away from the chaos, they say:

“Well, it must have been one hell of a night we’re about to have.”

You frown and ask what it means. They say it’s the last line of the film Before Midnight (2013), and turn their focus back on the verbal battle in the middle of the room.

You sit quietly with this, then realize that this friend just gave their answer to the best trilogy of all time: it’s not about wars, rings or caped crusaders. It’s about two people talking. The Before trilogy. 

Yes, those Richard Linklater films where Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke talk for 90 minutes straight… But is that really all they are?

The Meaning of a Trilogy

The idea of a trilogy carries an almost mythic weight in storytelling. It feels complete: beginning, middle, end. Life itself often unfolds that way, or at least we like to think it does. The Greeks knew this long before cinema existed. Aristotle described it in Poetics as a natural order: something begins, it changes, it ends. In between, we grow.

Cinema has absorbed this rhythm. The three-act structure has become the backbone of storytelling. The trilogy has become its natural extension, our modern myth cycle: the hero’s journey, divided perfectly into three chapters. From Star Wars to The Godfather or Back to the Future, each film carries its own arc but contributes to a larger, unified journey.

But the Before trilogy does something extraordinary. It takes this ancient structure and strips away everything but the essence of being alive: no villains, no quests, no climaxes… just two people talking, loving, questioning, and changing. Yet somehow, those conversations feel as monumental as any space battle.

Action Through Dialogue

The real strength of the Before films lies in their dialogue. Jesse and Céline’s conversations are alive, tight, funny, sincere. And without realizing it, we’re being pulled into their story. They grow in front of your eyes, and in between films.

That’s the secret to a great trilogy: the characters must evolve.

In Star Wars (1977), young Luke Skywalker discovers his power. In The Empire Strikes Back (1980), he learns to control it  and confronts the truth about his family. By Return of the Jedi (1983), he’s become the person he once dreamed of being.

No lightsabers or empires in the Before films, of course. But the growth is just as real:

In Before Sunrise (1995), Jesse and Céline are young travelers stopping for one night in Vienna, tentative and hopeful. Their talk is filled with wonder and “what ifs”. Because they are young and don’t know themselves yet.

In Before Sunset (2004), they meet again in Paris. Older, more certain, yet carrying the toll of adult life. The questions are sharper now. The stakes are real.

By Before Midnight (2013), they’ve built a life together. Their talks are domestic, tender, sometimes brutal. It’s not the same magic of their youth. It’s something truer.

Because we don’t stay the same. Neither do they.

That’s what makes this trilogy so special: It grows with its audience. Most trilogies unfold over a few years. The Before films span nearly two decades. By the time the last one ends, both the characters and the viewers have grown up.

If you find yourself at that dinner table again, and someone shouts about Lords of the Rings or Star Wars, don’t argue. The reason they don’t think about the Before trilogy, is because they haven’t seen it yet.

So just sit back and recommend they watch it.

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