Before Sunset (2004)

Two people walk around Paris for 80 minutes and talk, and somehow it’s more suspenseful than most heist movies. The clock is the villain. Jesse has a plane to catch, so every café stop, every staircase and every side street is time he’s choosing to spend. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy make it feel improvised, all half-finished thoughts and nervous laughs, which is the hardest trick in acting. The honest problem is the car ride. Both of them unload years of regret in one long stretch, and Jesse’s speech about his marriage tips over into self-pity. That same scene is where Delpy is at her absolute best, though, so it’s a fair trade. Linklater made it for a reported $2 to $2.7 million, and it holds a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. A 9.2 because it’s a whole love story told in one walk, and it only stumbles when it stops walking. $407 says you run into an old friend this year and suddenly stop caring that you’re late.

What works: Hawke and Delpy talk like two people who’ve been rehearsing this conversation in their heads for years, and the real-time walk makes every minute count.

What doesn’t: The car ride stacks so much regret into one stretch that Jesse’s complaints about his marriage start to sound self-pitying.

Who it’s for: Anyone who’s replayed one great conversation for years, and people who like their romance with zero explosions.