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What Happens Later

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4.9/10 • 51

2023-11-021h 44m

RomanceComedy

They missed their connection.

Two ex-lovers 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 their lives to the dreams they once shared, they begin to wonder if their reunion is mere coincidence, or something more enchanted.

Directors
Meg Ryan
Writters
Kirk Lynn, Steven Dietz, Meg Ryan
Editors
Kirk Lynn, Steven Dietz, Meg Ryan, Jason Gourson

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Meg Ryan

    Meg Ryan

    Willa

  2. David Duchovny

    David Duchovny

    Bill

  3. Rob Gilchrist

    Rob Gilchrist

    Stranded Passenger

  4. Will Reed

    Will Reed

    Airport Background

  5. Patricia Rouse

    Patricia Rouse

    Gate Agent

  6. Hal Liggett

    Hal Liggett

    Airport Voice (voice)

  7. Jared Rogers

    Jared Rogers

    Airline Maintenance Worker

Reviews4

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GavGaddis Avatar

GavGaddis

Nov 4, 2023

A true rom-com for grown-ups. You'll have to forgive me for the length of this. I'd written a solid 500-ish words explaining everything about this and then one errant cat step on a mouse and here we are: a new tab with the old review gone for good. This feels like it's from an alternate reality where Gerard Butler didn't kill of rom-coms in American cinema in the 2010s and, instead, the field got to thrive like its 90s heyday. Duchovny and Ryan are charming as hell, which is to be expected in a movie that's literally just three credited people. The two of them, plus the person voicing the airport's PA system. Given this is a rom-com directed by Meg Ryan, queen of the 90s rom-com, and it's dedicated to Nora Ephron, even the simple premise of "two people who used to love each other are snowed in at a regional airport" is given a little heightened reality juice. While Ryan is not above getting cheesy with it (the airport is basically sentient in how the 'magic' of the day keeps both characters together), the movie also shows some truly adult restraint. It doesn't just give you what you expect from a rom-com for free. There's a maturity to it all. I think the best compliment I can give this movie is it's like a good play where the actual sets seem to melt away. As you learn more about both characters, the more they tell stories, and because it's frigging Meg Ryan and David Duchovny they have the chops to capture you into those stories to the point you feel like you saw it happen in a flashback. An absolute blast to watch. I hope it performs well enough to show trimming the fat off a budget and just making a damned good romantic comedy is both possible and profitable. A solid 9/10. I can't wait to get a physical copy, put it on a shelf, and treat myself to a rewatch every few months when the genre winds blow in the right direction.

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$3,000,000.00
Revenue
$3,370,345.00
Keywords
ex-loverromantic comedywoman director