''What Happens Later'' is a 2023 American
romantic comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...
film directed by
Meg Ryan
Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra (born November 19, 1961), known by her stage name Meg Ryan, is an American actress. Known for her leading roles as quirky, charismatic women since the late 1980s, Ryan is particularly recognized for her work in ...
, written by Ryan,
Steven Dietz
Steven Dietz (born June 23, 1958) is an American playwright, theatre director, and teacher. Called "the most ubiquitous American playwright whose name you may never have heard", Dietz has long been one of America's most prolific and widely prod ...
and
Kirk Lynn, and starring Ryan and
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny ( ; born ) is an American actor, writer, and musician. He received his breakthrough with the role of Fox Mulder in The X-Files franchise, earning Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards a ...
. The film follows two exes who, after bumping into each other when their flights get delayed due to a snowstorm, spend the night at the airport reliving their past.
The film was released by
Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street is an east–west street in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightlife, nightclub district. The street connects a neighborhood popular today for music venues and comedy as well as a ...
on November 3, 2023. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $3 million.
Plot
At a regional airport on
Leap Day
A leap year (also known as an intercalary year or bissextile year) is a calendar year that contains an additional day (or, in the case of a lunisolar calendar, a month) compared to a common year. The 366th day (or 13th month) is added to kee ...
, ex-lovers Wilhelmina "Willa" Davis and William "Bill" Davis run into each other and make small talk during their layovers.
Willa and Bill are about to get on their respective flights; Willa is on her way to Boston, and Bill is on his way to Austin. However, a storm, later identified as a bomb cyclone, causes flights at the airport to be delayed, leaving Willa and Bill to reconnect. Bill is married to his wife Beth-Anne, and together they have a 15-year-old daughter, Rose, but Bill says that he and Beth-Anne are “going through a thing.” Rose also wishes to be a dancer, which worries Bill. Meanwhile, Willa plans to visit her friend Ginny, who is splitting up with her husband.
While Willa and Bill reminisce about their past relationship, it is revealed that Willa suffered a miscarriage while she was with Bill. After Bill left, Willa had a little girl with a man who left as soon as he found out she was pregnant. Willa later gave her daughter up for adoption; she was able to find the perfect parents, but Willa does not know where her daughter is now.
Bill mentions that he saw Willa a year prior while she was changing planes in Dallas, but Bill did not say anything to her, stating that she looked lost. Bill obtains a hotel voucher but is unable to reserve a room. It is announced that Willa's flight to Boston is now boarding, but she ends up giving up her seat for a family. Willa tries to give Bill her ticket after upgrading to first class so he will not miss Rose's recital, as both Bill and Willa are “W. Davis”. Bill refuses. Willa mentions that Beth-Anne called earlier, while Bill was grabbing coffee, to say that Rose does not want to stay with him but with Beth-Anne instead for a few weeks. Bill then takes the ticket only for all flights to be suspended suddenly.
Rose calls Bill, and Bill encourages her to try her best at dancing; earlier, Bill told Willa that he had told Rose that she would not make it as a professional dancer, making her sad. Willa tells Bill that she is actually going to Boston to meet her daughter; Maggie, who just turned 20, called Willa and told her that she would like to meet. Earlier, Willa, using Bill's phone, texted Maggie, saying that she was not going to come. Maggie then replied, telling Willa to just try. Initially, this was seen as Willa texting Ginny.
The next day, all outbound flights are then announced to be departing shortly. Willa gifts Bill with her rainstick, and Bill gives Willa an old card, saying that he will write his number on the back. They then exchange a kiss before leaving to board their flights. Willa turns Bill's card over to discover that he only wrote "just try." Willa and Bill exchange final gestures through the windows of their planes, which are parked next to each other. Bill tries to sign his phone number to Willa, only for their flights to depart as the contrails from the planes form a heart.
Cast
*
Meg Ryan
Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra (born November 19, 1961), known by her stage name Meg Ryan, is an American actress. Known for her leading roles as quirky, charismatic women since the late 1980s, Ryan is particularly recognized for her work in ...
as Willa
*
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny ( ; born ) is an American actor, writer, and musician. He received his breakthrough with the role of Fox Mulder in The X-Files franchise, earning Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards a ...
as Bill
*Hal Liggett as airport voice
Production
Meg Ryan
Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra (born November 19, 1961), known by her stage name Meg Ryan, is an American actress. Known for her leading roles as quirky, charismatic women since the late 1980s, Ryan is particularly recognized for her work in ...
first announced the film was in development in a May 2022
Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
post. It is Ryan's second feature film as director, after 2015's ''
Ithaca
Ithaca most commonly refers to:
*Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey''
*Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca
*Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College
Ithaca, Ithaka ...
'',
and also her first film as an actor since ''Ithaca''.
The film is based on
Steven Dietz
Steven Dietz (born June 23, 1958) is an American playwright, theatre director, and teacher. Called "the most ubiquitous American playwright whose name you may never have heard", Dietz has long been one of America's most prolific and widely prod ...
's 2008 play ''Shooting Star''.
It is produced by Jonathan Duffy, Kelly Williams, Laura D. Smith, and Kristin Mann.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...
began on October 26, 2022, in
Bentonville, Arkansas
Bentonville is a city in and the county seat of Benton County, Arkansas, United States. The city is centrally located in the county with Rogers, Arkansas, Rogers adjacent to the east. The city proper had a population of 54,164 at the 2020 Unite ...
.
Release
''What Happens Later'' was originally scheduled to be released in theaters on October 13, 2023, but was moved to November 3 to avoid competition with the
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...
concert film ''
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour''.
Reception
Box office
In North America, the film made $601,372 from 1,492 theaters in its first day, and went on to make $1.5 million from its opening weekend, finishing in ninth.
Critical response
Audiences polled by
PostTrak
PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios.
History
The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a fil ...
gave it a 43% overall positive score, with 25% saying they would definitely recommend the film.
[
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References
External links
*
*
{{Meg Ryan
American romantic comedy films
2020s English-language films
Bleecker Street films
Films shot in Arkansas