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An empty airport, a pair of ex-lovers, and a forced proximity trope set the stage for Meg Ryan‘s What Happens Later in the film’s official trailer. In addition to directing, the actress stars in the film alongside David Duchovny, which follows the unexpected reunion of their characters Willa and Bill after more than two decades.
Despite all of the life they’ve managed to live without one another, their chance encounter that leaves them both stranded overnight at a regional airport brings back to the surface all of the questions that went unanswered when they lost touch all those years ago.
“Relax, you’re already living out your worst-case scenario,” Willa tells Bill, who kicks back: “What? Being stuck here with you? You make a good point.” But there’s no venom in the exchange, nothing to suggest that any anger or resentment lingers beneath the surface.
A synopsis for the film describes Willa as a “magical thinker” and pins Bill down as a “catastrophic one,” a match-up that explains why they find themselves “just as attracted to and annoyed by one another as they did decades earlier.”
With nowhere else to go, Willa and Bill watch the snowfall together and begin tugging on the threads that unravel the what-ifs of their tangled webs. “When people break up there’s the things that they tell each other,” Willa begins. “Then there’s the truth — which you never told me.” Bill’s truth, as it turns out, was that he was more in love with her than she thought.
What Happens Later marks Ryan’s first directorial role since 2015’s drama film Ithaca, which she also starred in. The film was written by Ryan, Kirk Lynn, and Steven Dietz, based on his play Shooting Star.
