People We Meet on Vacation
★★★
People We Meet on Vacation is Netflix’s latest entry in the ever-growing “beach read romance goes cinematic” pipeline, adapted from the wildly popular novel by Emily Henry. And yes, this one comes with built-in expectations, especially if you’re watching alongside someone who loves the book (in my case, my wife, who was fully locked in from the moment we hit play… on a weeknight, no less).
The setup is comfortingly familiar. Poppy (a bubbly, impulsive whirlwind played by Emily Bader) reunites year after year with Alex (the quieter, more reserved Tom Blyth) for annual vacations after forging a pact to remain “just vacation friends.” The movie jumps between present day and past trips, charting how these two opposites slowly and inevitably gravitate toward one another. If your brain immediately jumps to When Harry Met Sally…, you’re not wrong, and the movie isn’t pretending otherwise.
What works best here is the chemistry. Bader and Blyth are genuinely charming together, and the contrast between their personalities gives the early stretch of the film a light, breezy rom-com energy. The concept itself is strong, and for a while, the movie knows exactly what lane it’s in and thrives there.
But about halfway through, People We Meet on Vacation makes a sharp tonal turn. The jokes fade, the seriousness ramps up, and suddenly we’re watching a straight-up romance drama instead of a rom-com. On paper, that shift could work. In practice, it feels like flipping channels mid-movie. Because the film isn’t interested in reinventing the genre, that heavier second half ends up feeling surprisingly stale and a little dull, especially compared to the spark of the first act.
Length doesn’t help matters. At nearly two hours, this movie overstays its welcome, and what’s most frustrating is that not all the vacations are shown. When the entire premise is built on these shared trips, skipping some of them feels like a missed opportunity. It honestly made us wonder if this story would’ve been better served as a limited series, especially since it’s streaming on Netflix anyway. The novel’s structure practically begs for episodic storytelling.
Still, despite my nitpicks, there’s an undeniable charm here. If the trailer or description appeals to you even a little, chances are you’ll be fully on board. It’s an easy, pleasant watch. Probably not one I’ll revisit, but one I didn’t regret spending time with. I’m also genuinely interested to see what Emily Bader does next, because she brings a lot of warmth and charisma to the screen.
And maybe that’s the film’s secret weapon: relatability. Several conversations between Poppy and Alex hit surprisingly close to home for my wife and me. If you’re in a relationship where opposites attract (and let’s be honest, most of us are), there’s something here that will resonate, even when the movie stumbles.
People We Meet on Vacation is cozy, predictable, occasionally frustrating and ultimately kind of sweet. It’s not redefining the genre, but it knows its audience. And judging by the fact that it was the number-one movie on Netflix when we watched, that audience showed up. Sometimes, that’s enough.
