“What Happens Later,” directed by Meg Ryan, was released Nov. 3. The movie brings back the old romantic comedy flare that can be found in Ryan’s past films. The film follows two love interests as they wait for their pending flights and is a perfect watch if you need the dreadful airport layover to be romanticized. 

Ryan is no stranger to the rom-com scene with her starring roles in films like “Sleepless in Seattle,” “When Harry Met Sally” and “You’ve Got Mail.” “What Happens Later,” which Ryan starred and directed, mimics the cliche elements found in ’90s rom-coms.

Ryan plays Willa, a quirky woman who is constantly all over the place and losing everything, while her love interest Bill, played by David Duchovny, is an uptight Wall Street businessman. The characters run into obstacles that will separate them, like the fact that they haven’t seen each other for 20 years and live in separate cities. However, due to unrealistic rom-com magic, they always end up back together. Another element that could only happen in a rom-com is when the characters dance together in the empty airport, which follows the they’re-the-only-two-people-in-the-world cliche. Realistically, if fellow airport travelers were to witness the characters dancing, it would not be cute. In the non-movie world, the characters would have difficulty finding room to dance amongst the travelers, and witnesses to these characters would likely think it’s very odd.  

The movie tries to make its viewers optimistic about the dreadful airport layover. Who knew that sitting on questionably dirty airport chairs, finding zero outlets, waiting in long lines and dealing with rude gate agents could be romanticized? However, the movie somehow makes an airport layover a successful location for the characters to rekindle their love.

One way they are able to achieve this is through the comedic relief of the airport’s intercom.  Voiced by Hal Liggett, the intercom gives the general airport statements, like “Do not leave your personal items unattended,” but it also guides the story. The airport voice talks to the characters directly, which not only sets the scene for the world revolving around only these specific characters but also serves as a way that the movie can make fun of itself.  

Many rom-coms often follow younger characters who are just starting their lives, yet this movie turns away from that narrative. Instead, the characters are middle aged and appear as though they have their lives figured out. When catching up about each other’s lives, the characters share that they believe the world is no longer made for them due to the struggles they have faced. One of these struggles is that Willa has to walk with a limp due to her arthritis. Again, this turns away from your typical rom-com because often everything happens in the character’s favor and they face little to no consequences. 

Another way this movie moves away from a typical rom-com is the fact that the characters have met before. Instead of a meet-cute, the characters running into each other was more like a meet-again cute. The love interests dated in college, however, went their separate ways and moved to different cities. They see each other for the first time since they went their separate ways during this layover. They ask each other the “what if” question throughout the film.  

An interesting aspect of this film is that besides the occasional airport voice, the love interests are the only characters with speaking roles in the film and because the characters are stuck in an airport, the airport is the only setting. With the same setting, it is up to the two characters to keep the viewers entertained, which can make the occasional feel like it continues for a long period of time.  

It is clear that Ryan really wanted to modernize the rom-com genre with her usage of older characters and the discussion of more realistic problems, like the complicated relationship Bill has with his daughter. These problems were hard-hitting, which added a sadder dramatic side to the film. The scenes often felt dragged out for too long, added to this depressing feeling. It would have been even better if Ryan did not try to fully escape the rom-com formula, because it would have made the film more light-hearted and uplifting.

Despite the underlying somber tone, it was still special that the movie shared some aspects that were reminiscent of the rom-coms from the late ’90s. Willa’s hair was always perfectly styled regardless of the fact that in real life, hair never looks that good. Songs that shared similarities to the soundtracks of ’90s rom-coms played any time Willa and Bill had a romantic moment.  The “will they, won’t they” question rang throughout the film, which was similar to Ryan’s “When Harry Met Sally.” Most of the time it was cheesy, stereotypical and extremely unrealistic. 

It seems for the past couple of years that the rom-com has been ignored, in the sense that there have been few movies that come out and have been successful under that genre. “What Happens Later” and the reintroduction of Meg Ryan to the genre may signal a resurgence of rom-coms because they are reminiscent of a time when the genre was in its prime.