Bleecker Street released the trailer for rom-com “What Happens Later” starring Meg Ryan and David Duchovny, which will be released on Oct. 13.
Ryan, rom-com royalty from “When Harry Met Sally” to “Sleepless in Seattle,” directed the film in addition to starring alongside Duchovny. Based on Steven Dietz’s play “Shooting Star,” the film follows two ex-lovers, Bill (David Duchovny) and Willa (Meg Ryan) who get snowed in at a regional airport overnight. Their reunion becomes prolonged when both — and only — their flights to Boston and Austin get delayed.
“Relax,” Ryan’s Willa tells Duchovny’s Bill. “You’re already living out your worst-case scenario.”
“What, being stuck here with you?” Bill says to which Willa says “Yeah.”
“You make a good point,” Bill concludes.
Willa’s whimsy and Bill’s anxiety, stronger than ever, resurface in their familiar camaraderie as they weather the storm in an increasingly desolate airport. They 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 occurred randomly, or if fate had something to do with it.
“It really wasn’t what you said,” Willa says. “That we wanted different things. You left. You let go.”
“This behavior,” Bill says. “This is exactly why we broke up.”
“So basically my personality,” Willa counters, to which Bill says “Okay, yes.”
“What Happens Later” balances humor and endearment, calling upon the heartfelt 90s romantic comedies in which Ryan starred as well as dissecting the details of a past relationship between lovers who dive right back into their feelings for each other. The couple gets a second chance at expressing their love for one another.
“When people break up there’s the thing that they tell each other and then there’s the truth, which you never told me,” Willa cuts to the chase.
“I was in love with you, and I couldn’t turn that on and off like a switch,” Bill replies.
The film will open in theaters November 3.
