Photographed by Manuel Teran, edited by Nicolas Guster and featuring an original score by Macedonian band Anastasia, the film received critical acclaim.

A tragic tale of fated lovers set against the background of political turbulence in Macedonia and contemporary London, three love stories intertwine to create a portrait of modern Europe.

Told in three parts, and linked by characters and events, Before the Rain explores the uncompromising nature of war as it ravages the lives of the unsuspecting, and forces the innocent to take sides.

For example, the scene where Aleksandar whistles "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" while riding his bicycle is a conspicuous nod to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, directed by George Roy Hill.

Additionally, through the character of Aleksandar, the film offers a view of the "cultural shock" and foreignness he experiences upon reintegrating and returning to his home country after being away.

[12] Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek has interpreted the film as offering "to the Western gaze what it likes to see in the Balkans – a mythical spectacle of eternal, primordial passions, of a vicious cycle of hate and love, in contrast to the decadent and anemic life in the West.

Katarzyna Marciniak, a scholar from Ohio University, argued in her essay that the film, in addition to being a cautionary tale for people from the former Yugoslavia, also served as a message to Westerners and American citizens "to recognize the problematic 'doubleness' embedded in the concept of national identity".