On Jan. 9, 2026, Netflix released its newest romantic comedy “People We Meet on Vacation”. Based on a novel of the same name by Emily Henry, the film follows free spirited Poppy Wright and high-strung Alex Nilsen, strangers-turned-friends-turned-lovers, across one-week intervals every summer over the course of their ten year relationship.
The book, which is the popular YA author’s most commercially successful release, has sold over 2 million copies in the U.S. alone, giving the adaptation a pre-established audience. The film has already shown massive success, with over 17 million views over its premiere weekend. The movie has also gained popularity over TikTok, with many book lovers (no pun intended) breaking down differences between the movie and the book.
“People We Meet on Vacation” opens with its two protagonists, Poppy, portrayed by “My Lady Jane” star Emily Bader, and Alex, played by “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” star Tom Blyth, in the ninth summer of their relationship. Their relationship is strained since the yet-unrevealed events of the previous summer, so when Poppy is invited to Alex’s brother’s wedding in Barcelona, she uses the excuse that her job as a travel writer is taking her elsewhere in the world. But when Alex acts relieved that Poppy can’t attend, Poppy lies and says that her company is coincidentally sending her to Barcelona the same weekend, and she can attend afterall. Poppy convinces her boss, played by the chronically underutilized Jameela Jamil, to let her write a piece on destination weddings from Spain.
Over the course of the movie, we flash back to five of their previous nine summers as friends, watching as their relationship strengthens despite both being in on/off relationships with other people. For reference, in the book, Poppy and Alex have known each other for 12 years. We see glimpses of all of their previous trips and the trip destinations and timeline/location of events are altered and condensed in the film.
I thought this movie was very cute and fairly well written, but as both a standalone and an adaptation, it falls short in a few ways. A main source of contention in both the book and film is Poppy and Alex’s different feelings towards their home town, and wanting to return to Ohio and settle down. Poppy clearly communicates from the beginning of the movie that she does not want to return to Linfield because it holds bad memories for her. Even though Alex feels the opposite, he respects where she’s coming from after he learns how she was bullied.
But after Alex and Poppy confess their feelings for each other, he automatically expects her to have a clear plan of their next steps as a couple, including returning to Ohio together despite Poppy’s flourishing career in New York. Poppy acknowledges that she is not a planner, something that Alex has always known. She even questions his need to return home when she knows that his dream has always been to teach in New York or Europe, something that was an issue with his former on/off longterm girlfriend.
After the film forces Poppy to realise that she needs Alex in her life, and follow him to Linfield to prove it, we flash forward to their tenth summer together… in New York. Alex is teaching at Sarah Lawrence and we assume Poppy is still writing. Meaning that Poppy was right all along even though both Alex and the script make it appear that her flightiness was always the problem. This works in the book, as Poppy is emotionally reserved after they first reveal their feelings for one another, but in the film, it didn’t track narratively.
Emily Bader and Tom Blyth’s performances were charming and the movie has some great comedic moments. If you’re looking for a lighthearted beach movie during these harsh winter weeks, I’d give it a try. 3.75/5
