Before Sunrise: When Your Teen Is Ready for This Iconic Romance
TL;DR: Before Sunrise is a dialogue-heavy romance that follows two strangers wandering Vienna for a single night. Best for mature 15+ teens who can appreciate slow pacing, philosophical conversations, and emotional nuance. Skip it for younger teens expecting action or typical rom-com beats. If they love it, the sequels Before Sunset and Before Midnight are equally compelling.
This isn't your standard teen romance. There's no love triangle, no grand gesture at the airport, no makeover montage. Before Sunrise is 101 minutes of two twentysomethings—Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Céline (Julie Delpy)—walking around Vienna, talking. That's it. They meet on a train, he convinces her to get off and spend the night exploring the city with him before his flight home, and they talk about everything from past relationships to reincarnation to whether men and women can truly understand each other.
It's Richard Linklater doing what he does best: making the mundane feel profound. The entire film is essentially one long conversation broken up by different backdrops—a record store listening booth, a cemetery, a ferris wheel, a midnight walk along the Danube.
For the right teen, this is cinematic magic. For the wrong teen, it's "why are we watching people just walk and talk for two hours?"
Age rating: PG-13, and appropriately so. There's some mild language, smoking, drinking, and one scene where they listen to a spoken word piece about sexual longing (it's artsy, not explicit). The real content consideration isn't about what's shown—it's about whether your teen has the emotional maturity and attention span for this style of storytelling.
Realistically: This works best for 15-18 year olds who:
- Can handle slow pacing without getting bored
- Enjoy character-driven stories over plot-driven ones
- Are starting to think about deeper questions (identity, connection, meaning)
- Have some experience with or interest in romance (not necessarily personal—could be through books, other films, or just curiosity)
- Don't need constant visual stimulation
If your 13-year-old devours Sally Rooney novels or spent last weekend rewatching Lady Bird for the third time, they might be ready. If they're still firmly in the Marvel/action phase or get restless during dialogue-heavy scenes, save this for later.
The teens who love Before Sunrise really love it. Here's why it lands:
It captures the intensity of a fleeting connection. Every teen has experienced or fantasized about that moment—meeting someone who just gets you, where conversation flows effortlessly and time disappears. The film's premise (they only have one night together) amplifies that intensity in a way that feels true to adolescent emotion.
The conversations feel real. Jesse and Céline don't speak in perfectly crafted monologues. They interrupt each other, circle back to earlier points, get awkward, show off a little. It's how actual people talk when they're trying to impress someone while also being genuine.
It's romantic without being cheesy. There's no orchestral swell when they kiss. No rain-soaked declaration of love. The romance builds through intellectual and emotional connection, which appeals to teens who are tired of formulaic rom-coms but still want to feel something.
It validates their interior life. Teens are often dismissed as too young to have meaningful thoughts about existence, relationships, or philosophy. This film takes those conversations seriously. Jesse and Céline are only 23, barely out of their teens themselves, and the film treats their perspectives with respect.
The relationship moves quickly—but realistically. They meet, talk for hours, kiss, and spend the night together (they sleep in a park, fully clothed—nothing sexual happens on screen). For some parents, the speed might feel concerning. But the film actually portrays this with nuance: there's nervousness, hesitation, and genuine emotional vulnerability. It's not glorifying impulsive decisions so much as capturing a specific kind of connection that can happen when two people are in the right place at the right time.
It might prompt big questions. After watching, your teen might want to talk about fate, whether soulmates exist, what makes a connection "real," or why people stay in relationships that don't have this kind of spark. These are good conversations to have, even if they're not easy ones.
The sequels add important context. Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013) follow the same characters nine and eighteen years later. They're both rated R (mainly for language and adult themes), but if your older teen loves the first film, the trilogy as a whole offers an incredibly honest look at how relationships evolve over time. Sunset is probably fine for the same audience as Sunrise; Midnight deals with marriage, parenting, and sexual frustration more explicitly and is best saved for 17+.
Don't force this on a teen who isn't ready. If they:
- Need action or plot momentum to stay engaged
- Are going through a breakup and might find it painful rather than cathartic
- Have explicitly said they hate "boring" or "talky" movies
- Are younger than 14 and haven't shown interest in this type of film
Then save it. There's no rush. The film will still be there when they're ready, and forcing it early might turn them off to it permanently.
Set expectations upfront. "This is a movie where two people walk around a city and talk for two hours. It's slow, but if you're in the right mood, it's really beautiful. Want to try it?"
Create the right environment. This isn't a background movie. Phones away, lights dimmed, ideally on a night when no one's exhausted or distracted. The film rewards attention.
Don't over-explain. Resist the urge to pause and check if they're "getting it" or to point out particularly meaningful moments. Let them experience it.
Talk about it after—if they want to. Some teens will immediately want to dissect it. Others will need time to process. A simple "What did you think?" is enough to open the door without pressuring them.
- Do you think they would have fallen for each other if they'd met under normal circumstances, not on a train with a time limit?
- Jesse says men are more romantic than women because they're more disconnected from reality. What do you think?
- Would you have gotten off the train with someone you just met?
- The film was made in 1995—do you think a story like this could happen the same way now, with phones and social media?
- [If they've seen the sequels] How did your feelings about their relationship change across the three films?
Before Sunrise is a gorgeous, intimate film that treats young love and big questions with the seriousness they deserve. It's perfect for the right teen at the right time—someone who's ready for slow cinema, philosophical conversation, and emotional depth.
But it's also totally fine if your teen isn't there yet. Not every 15-year-old needs to appreciate Linklater's dialogue-driven style, and there are plenty of other coming-of-age films that might resonate more with where they are right now.
If you're unsure whether they're ready, try Lady Bird or The Perks of Being a Wallflower first—both have more plot momentum while still prioritizing character and emotion. If those land well, Before Sunrise is a natural next step.
And if they do love it? Welcome to the club. You've just introduced them to one of the most honest portrayals of connection in modern cinema.