'People We Meet on Vacation' Review: Netflix's Irresistible Emily Henry Adaptation Has the Perfect Leading Pair

The beginning of 2026 kicks off an exciting year for Emily Henry fans. The New York Times bestselling author has been writing since 2016, but her first adult romance novel, Beach Read, became a hit with readers when it was published in 2020; in the wake of that success, five of her books have since been optioned for the screen. Yet the first adaptation that's made it through development and production for Netflix is actually the second of Henry's adult romances, People We Meet on Vacation.

As someone who's figuratively inhaled the majority of Henry's books over the last several years (I'm keeping Great Big Beautiful Life on my TBR until the time comes for me to finally crack it open), I was undeniably curious about whether People We Meet on Vacation, which jumps around between multiple timelines in nonlinear fashion, could be successfully translated to the screen — but I shouldn't have worried. The film, directed by Brett Haley (Hearts Beat Loud) and penned by author and screenwriter Yulin Kuang alongside Amos Vernon & Nunzio Randazzo, is an effervescent, charming adaptation of Henry's globetrotting romance novel, with a pair of winning performances at its heart from stars Tom Blyth and Emily Bader.

What Is 'People We Meet on Vacation' About?

Poppy Wright (Bader) is living her ultimate dream of getting to travel for a living; as a writer for R&R magazine, she's never been in one city for too long, getting to have new experiences and meet all kinds of people. Yet, for some reason, the last couple of years have left her disillusioned about her chosen career path, unable to summon the same level of excitement she once held for her vocation. We're not immediately privy to what's put Poppy in such a melancholy state, but when she receives an invitation to a destination wedding in Barcelona, she realizes she's going to have to suck it up and occupy the same space as her estranged best friend, Alex Nilsen (Blyth), whom she hasn't spoken to in the last two years — right around the same time that vacations stopped being fun.

It turns out that Poppy and Alex, who have known each other since college, used to block out one week every year to go on vacation together, a tradition they maintained until one fateful night two years ago changed everything between them. As the story unfolds, jumping back and forth between some of their most defining trips and Alex's brother David's (Boots' Miles Heizer) Barcelona wedding in the present day, the full scope of Poppy and Alex's dynamic and the increasingly complicated feelings they have for each other begin to take shape. (The tension still simmering between them is only exacerbated by the fact that the apartment they're renting in Barcelona doesn't have working A/C.) On paper, ruining the friendship in favor of romance doesn't make any sense; Poppy is a freewheeling rebel who would rather go with the flow than follow a predetermined schedule, while the soft-spoken Alex constantly wrestles with embracing more spontaneity on each trip they take. Yet it also seems like the only time they can truly be themselves is when they're halfway around the world — together.

'People We Meet on Vacation' Wouldn't Work Without Tom Blyth and Emily Bader

Image via Netflix

Part of People We Meet on Vacation's irresistible appeal lies in Poppy and Alex's opposites-attract relationship, and in that regard, Emily Bader and Tom Blyth feel like the perfect casting choices for these characters. Poppy's wild-child sensibilities could easily come off as more annoying, but Bader skillfully toes the line between charming and grating, resulting in Poppy winning you over with every newly revealed facet of her personality. As for Blyth, his history of playing characters who tend to play things close to the vest serves him well here, too, since Alex is someone who keeps a lot of himself bottled up, only allowing brief glimpses into his deeper emotions until they're incited to spill out.

Blyth and Bader also have the hefty task of conveying their characters' evolving relationship over the span of several years, and they rise to meet that challenge with impressive ease. Poppy and Alex's first road trip home from college together is a defining moment for them early on, especially with Poppy's impulsive decision-making directly challenging Alex's desire to stick to a consistent plan, but key breadcrumbs of vulnerability sprinkled between them allow for their friendship to develop at an incendiary burn. Once the two are forced to share one lousy motel room — and yes, there is an only-one-bed dilemma that arises — it's impossible to envision Poppy and Alex going their separate ways after that.

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In the years that follow, theirs is the type of friendship that others increasingly clock as verging on codependent, to a degree that starts to impact their respective romantic relationships, none of which tend to last that long. It's an irresistible version of the friends-to-lovers trope, where everyone else, save for Poppy and Alex themselves, can see that Poppy and Alex are actually perfect for each other, and continuing to deny the truth is only going to end up hurting someone in the long run. To their credit, Bader and Blyth are more than capable of making their characters' will-they-won't-they dance believable and genuine without making the viewer feel like they're being strung along. Although the film's script largely follows the structure of the novel by alternating between past and present, it doesn't make the overall story too confusing to follow. If anything, jumping back to the past only adds new layers to Poppy and Alex's strained relationship in the present, allowing for a richer understanding of just how deep their friendship goes and the pivotal moment when they choose to back away from each other over pursuing something more.

'People We Meet on Vacation' Is Poppy and Alex's Story, for Better and Worse

Unfortunately, with the film needing to devote so much of its runtime to evolving Poppy and Alex's relationship across years of vacations, most of the supporting characters in People We Meet on Vacation aren't nearly as fleshed out. On the one hand, it makes sense, because this story is chiefly about two best friends who have to slowly and gradually realize that they want to be more than friends, but the movie's biggest constraint just doesn't allow for other characters to earn anywhere close to the same development.

Molly Shannon and Alan Ruck are admittedly delightful as Poppy's parents, who are convinced Poppy and Alex's trip to the woods is a cover for them to officially hook up, but they're limited in showcasing their comedic chops for the duration of literally one scene. Others earn slightly more to do but still feel significantly underdeveloped. Jameela Jamil plays Poppy's boss at R&R and Lukas Gage briefly drops into the story as a hot tour guide whom Poppy considers hooking up with, while Lucien Laviscount and Sarah Catherine Hook earn the distinction of becoming the first significant others that Poppy and Alex bring on vacation with them, but all of them are largely reduced to stepping stones that serve the larger romantic narrative with very little characterization of their own.

All that said, if you're watching for Poppy and Alex above everyone else (and why wouldn't you be?), People We Meet on Vacation largely succeeds at adapting one of BookTok's most-loved romance novels. While the film itself doesn't quite veer into the same devastatingly angsty territory that Henry's books tend to reach, there are just enough subtly pining looks and callbacks to the source material — including a gorgeously shot rain-soaked climax that visually and emotionally hits all the right notes — to satisfy viewers on the lookout for fan-favorite scenes. Bader and Blyth are an irresistibly charming duo, and the decision to move the story's present-day scenes from Palm Springs to Barcelona results in some of the film's most stunning locations. Not only will you be rooting for Poppy and Alex to make things work, but you'll also probably end up with a little wanderlust yourself.

People We Meet on Vacation comes to Netflix on January 9.

Release Date January 8, 2026

Runtime 109 minutes

Director Brett Haley

Writers Yulin Kuang, Emily Henry, Nunzio Randazzo, Amos Vernon

Producers Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen, Isaac Klausner

Pros & Cons

• Blyth and Bader are the perfect choices for Alex and Poppy's opposites-attract dynamic.
• The film adapts one of the book's best scenes with its emotional, rain-soaked climax.
• The movie's choice to move the present-day timeline from Palm Springs to Barcelona results in some stunning visuals.

• Because the film has to devote so much time to Alex and Poppy's story, the supporting cast unfortunately isn't very developed at all.