X
- 2023
- R
- Bleecker Street Media
- 1 h 43 m
- 2023
- R
- Bleecker Street Media
- 1 h 43 m
Summary Two ex lovers, Bill (David Duchovny) and Willa (Meg Ryan) get snowed in at a regional airport overnight. Indefinitely delayed, Willa, a magical thinker, and Bill, a catastrophic one, find themselves just as attracted to and annoyed by one another as they did decades earlier. But as they unpack the riddle of their mutual past and compare ...
Directed By: Meg Ryan
Written By: Steven Dietz, Kirk Lynn
- 2023
- R
- Bleecker Street Media
- 1 h 43 m
- 2023
- R
- Bleecker Street Media
- 1 h 43 m
What Happens Later
59
4.1
Where to Watch
Summary Two ex lovers, Bill (David Duchovny) and Willa (Meg Ryan) get snowed in at a regional airport overnight. Indefinitely delayed, Willa, a magical thinker, and Bill, a catastrophic one, find themselves just as attracted to and annoyed by one another as they did decades earlier. But as they unpack the riddle of their mutual past and compare ...
Directed By: Meg Ryan
Written By: Steven Dietz, Kirk Lynn
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 21 Critic Reviews
59
62% Positive
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
24% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
14% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 21 Critic Reviews
59
62% Positive
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
24% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
14% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
It takes about half the movie, but gradually we realize that we’ve stumbled into something wonderful, that there’s magic happening here, both onscreen and within the lives of the characters.
It’s a pleasure to report that the 100-minute conversation is as wonderful as the actors who deliver it—by turns witty, wistful and revealing, steeped in an appreciation for the hard learning that comes with age.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 16 User Ratings
4.1
13% Positive
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
31% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
56% Negative
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 16 User Ratings
4.1
13% Positive
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
31% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
56% Negative
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
“What Happens Later” is the second film directed by actress Meg Ryan, who also writes the screenplay here together with Kirk Lynn and Steve Dietz (it is based on an interesting play by the latter). Meg Ryan (s) mythologises, overturns or evolves, in a bitter and disillusioned way, the idea of 90s romantic comedies (even her famous comedies), making a story in which she fully reflects herself personal. The screenplay, between tears and smiles, reflects on what happens when the years pass and those old comedies become the reverberation of a very distant happiness; on what happens when love stops burning; about what happens when the dream ends and your youth is lost too. “What Happens Later” is a sort of "showdown", of an individual/sentimental balance sheet, characterized by melancholy and regret, because the choices made will have a retrospective impact whose weight and lightness will be felt. The film oscillates between moments of a classic romantic comedy and more serious and reflective moments, without the two tonal components of the story reaching real harmony, without these being amalgamated properly. However, on the other hand, the fragility of this work also becomes its strong point. Furthermore, the pair of actors, Meg Ryan and David Duchovny, are attractive and believable. Some dialogues are engaging. However, some aesthetic and narrative choices are much less effective. In conclusion, overall a film that is not entirely successful, but with its own dignity and a romantic and "magical" soul, full of poignant tenderness and melancholy that excites in its own way. Rating (in tenths): 5.50 / 6
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While it’s unlikely to join the rom-com pantheon, its charming leads and humorous truths do invoke the spirit of Ephron, to whom the film is dedicated. It’s a worthy tribute to her, delivered by perhaps the most qualified person to create one.
Ryan and Duchovny hold their own in this talky two-hander, navigating their characters’ highs and lows with conviction.
What Happens Later, directed by Meg Ryan, works so hard at trying to give us something fresh and novel that I couldn’t help wishing it were better: the cloud of dissatisfaction I felt after watching it kept trying to reshape its molecules into a better movie, albeit one that could live only in my head.
While Ryan’s bountiful charm is as evident as ever, her character unfortunately comes across like an older version of the manic pixie dream girl. And the movie’s heavy-handed magical realist elements counter the slightness of the material to deadly effect.
Even when the duo commandeer a luggage cart and trundle around these shiny corridors getting sozzled, we remain prisoners in their departure lounge of the damned.
IN A NUTSHELL:
I’ve often wondered what it would be like to randomly run into my old flames. Have you? Well, that’s what this movie explores when Willa and Bill see each other for the first time in years when they’re snowed in at an airport.
The film was directed by Meg Ryan and stars America’s Sweetheart herself. She wrote the script with Steven Dietz and Kirk Lynn based on a play by Dietz called “Shooting Star.”
THINGS I LIKED:
It’s great seeing Meg Ryan in another rom-com. It’s been 8 years. My favorite rom-com of hers is You’ve Got Mail.
David Duchovny always does a great job and fits this role very well.
The setting of an airport is the perfect location for this couple to meet again. The analogy of baggage rings loud and clear.
We learn more about each of these characters slowly as the layers of their lives are stripped away from the surface-level conversations of the beginning.
I thought it was cute when David Duchovny’s character unplugged an electronic poster that advertised a movie called “Rom Com” in order to use the outlet for his cell phone.
There is some subtle, welcome humor, mostly coming from amusing announcements on the PA system.
Fun fact: This was filmed at an airport in Arkansas.
I could definitely relate to being stranded in an airport. Life completely pauses. Many years ago, I was stranded with some other college students at the Denver airport due to a snowstorm. Flights were canceled and we wandered around, hoping there would be a magical break in the weather that would allow us to go on our way. We ended up sleeping on the floor because the chairs had permanent armrests that made it impossible to be comfortable. I remember waking up to the sound of an older woman asking, “Are they asleep? Poor dears.”
The end of the movie shows these words: “For Nora”, offering a loving tribute to the late Nora Ephron, her former mentor.
The ending is sweet, touching, and appropriate.
THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:
The rom-com genre usually features a charming couple falling in love. What we get here, instead, is talk of how a couple used to be in love. Of course, there is a remnant of that love, but we don’t get the same satisfaction as we would if the outlook for a romantic future were possible with this pair. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t much chemistry between the two very different characters, which made you wonder how they ever got together in the first place.
Because it’s a rom-com, we want the couple to kiss, yet we know it would be entirely improper because one of them is married.
A lot of the banter is only mildly entertaining. The dialogue mostly reveals past mistakes and pain mingled with regrets and sad arguments.
I feel terrible saying this but Meg Ryan’s facial plastic surgery is super distracting. She was perfect before and didn’t need to do anything to her beautiful face.
TIPS FOR PARENTS:
Kids will be bored and certainly not be able to relate to this relationship. Some adults will be super bored too. (Fair warning)
Profanity and several F-bombs
Talk of premarital relations
Talk of giving away a baby born out of wedlock
Infidelity
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The pair have good banter and I’ve always been a Meg Ryan fan so it’s nice to see her back in the genre. Gets a little goofy and drawn out by the end, but overall it’s an easy watch.
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Meg Ryan and David Duchovny play characters who were lovers during their college years. After all this time, they run into each other at a regional airport. When the flights get delayed, they spend the evening roaming around the facility and chatting about old times. This is Ryan's first feature since 2015 (she also directed). The quirky charm that made her romcom characters so appealing has been replaced by a **** free spirit with issues (and those hard-to-handle plastic looks). Ironically, Duchovny does better with the few comic moments that manage to emerge. Otherwise, it's pretty much a predictable two-hander without any surprises in the story, dialogue or performances. The "magical" moments featuring the airport announcer don't add anything. This film was adapted from a play and being grounded (literally and metaphorically) keeps the interactions from ever soaring.
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If you are going into this movie thinking it would have the same sweet quirky comedy with a happy ending as Ryan has been famous for in the past, you will most likely be disappointed. With 2 actors in the entire movie, I found it pretty dull while the 2 chatted and argued for the most of the movie with only one or two sweet moments in the 2 hours of screen time. Meanwhile I found myself distracted trying to find the Meg Ryan in the face of someone who now looks unrecognizable.
There were a few holes in the movie, including Ryan’s nonstop “limp” through the whole movie that she blames on arthritis at the age of “49”.
I’m pretty sure the movie was targeted for people over the age of 40, the whole movie the characters complained about growing older and their unhappiness based on their life choices.
Defiantly not what I would call a “Rom-Com” since there was very little comedy.
Sad I spent the money to see this,
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Production Company
Prowess Pictures,
Ten Acre Films,
Rockhill Studios,
Das Films
Release Date Nov 3, 2023
Duration 1 h 43 m
Rating R
Tagline They missed their connection.
