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In a time when many might be mourning the passing of the holidays or longing for refuge from cold climates, Sony, Temple Hill and Netflix‘s collaboration to adapt Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation provides all kinds of escape as it finds a spot for itself on the map of romantic comedies.
Star duo Emily Bader and Tom Blyth play the friends-to-lovers pair Poppy Wright and Alex Nilsen, opposites who manage to attract despite a tense first encounter in a carpool ride — not exactly a meet-cute moment — that shows just how different they are and leaves viewers wondering how they could have ever recovered from it.
But Poppy’s controlled chaos, clumsiness and reactions make her endearing, and Alex anchors her while matching her wild imagination. Their chemistry creates a pull toward each other to give what some may find an impossible opposites-attract story a solid foundation for the movie to work. It’s helped by Bader, who brings the comedy and genuineness to Poppy with her expressive eyes and face, and Blyth, who expertly fleshes out a rigid, routine-loving Alex, who can only really be brought out of his shell with the help of Poppy.
With a dual timeline that weaves between the current summer of Alex’s brother David’s (Miles Heizer) wedding in Barcelona and various previous “summer trips” to Squamish, BC, and New Orleans, context clues help differentiate the before and after of a major fallout between Poppy and Alex that hangs over them as they arrive in Spain.
Poppy’s wanderlust and Alex’s willingness to go along for the ride chart a course through spur-of-the-moment decisions like saying yes to a water-taxi ride from Buck (Lukas Gage) to pretending they are engaged to get free beignets. Of course, a detailed life story for engaged Poppy and Alex’s alter egos, Gladys and Keith Vivant, comes with that pretense, and a resulting vibrant dance scene, choreographed by Maya Taylor, captures the spirit of Henry’s book and the spark between Poppy and Alex, who fluctuate between the best of friends and the “what if?” of something more.
The back-and-forth, will-they-won’t-they dynamic combined with the timeline jumps might drag for some, especially those who read the book and weren’t fans of the stretched-out miscommunication (and at times, no communication) between Poppy and Alex; the simplified past summer culmination scene cuts that down a bit. Without spoiling what exactly goes down, the script writing and dialogue between the pair on David’s wedding day still hint at a rub when they basically swap their “wing it” and planned out itinerary moods from the start of the day to its end. But this also shows how they have influenced each other. The ending is well worth it and earned, but of course everything it takes to get there is the fun part.
The humor, which is so key to Henry’s novel, translates, even if it means less or no space for iconic lines from the book such as “It speaks to me” and “Do I have slow loris hands?” The simplest of scenes — like an early-on conversation in a diner — let Bader and Blyth shine. The great casting doesn’t stop there, with the ensemble also boosting the story as each guest star plays their part, from Gage’s aloof water taxi driver to Molly Shannon and Alan Ruck as Poppy’s parents.
Haley infuses the film with color as he did with the film adaptation of Jennifer Niven’s All the Bright Places. People We Meet on Vacation has a much lighter tone than that YA film starring Elle Fanning and Justice Smith, which traces themes of mental health.
As the first adaptation of a Henry novel (there are four more in the works) to cross the finish line, People We Meet on Vacation sets the bar high for future projects, visually, sonically and via its star-studded cast. Needle-drop selections, the likes of which were teased with Robyn’s “Hang With Me” in the film’s trailer, elevate big scenes. If only it could have had a theatrical release for book readers and moviegoers to experience together.
Title: People We Meet on Vacation
Distributor: Netflix
Release date: January 9, 2026 (streaming)
Director: Brett Haley
Screenwriters: Yulin Kuang, Amos Vernon & Nunzio Randazzo
Cast: Emily Bader, Tom Blyth, Lucien Laviscount, Sarah Catherine Hook, Lukas Gage, Molly Shannon, Alan Ruck, Miles Heizer, Tommy Do, Alice Lee
Rating: PG-13
Running time: 1 hr 57 mins
English (US) ·