What Happened Was...
Actor, writer and director Tom Noonan adapted his own stage play into this bleakly funny two-hander about the dating landscape, which won the Grand Jury Prize and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at Sundance. Noonan also co-stars opposite Karen Sillas, playing office co-workers sharing a tentative romantic connection. Unfolding almost in real time, WHAT HAPPENED WAS… gradually exposes the pair’s quiet desperation and tragicomic character flaws via subtle tonal shifts and tense revelations. Absurdist glumcore supremo Charlie Kaufman was one of the film’s early champions, later casting Noonan in his own SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK (2008) and ANOMALISA (2015).
Tom Noonan, Karen Sillas
- Notes From OscilloscopeA vastly under-seen and underappreciated gem from a master of theater and motion pictures, Tom Noonan’s WHAT HAPPENED WAS... is a perfect example of an economical stage-to-screen adaptation that remains wholly true to its dramaturgical source material while becoming completely cinematic in its new form. Sure, it’s two people in one location, but the claustrophobia feasts on itself to regurgitate a vibrant New York City vibe (sometimes brilliantly captured through the creative use of windows). Allow the discomfort to wash over you. It reveals something very human underneath.
