People We Meet on Vacation (Netflix): Movie Review

People We Meet On Vacation, Netflix’s film adaptation of Emily Henry’s beloved novel, is lighthearted but ultimately unconvincing.

In 2022, it was announced that Netflix was planning to adapt the novel into a feature film, and then later in 2024, the casting of its lead characters was enthusiastically approved by fans of the book. While the film successfully brings Henry’s charming and vibrant world to life, it struggles to make itself memorable beyond its runtime.

People We Meet On Vacation explores the 10-year-long friendship that bloomed and has now withered between Poppy (Emily Bader, of My Lady Jane) and Alex (Tom Blyth, of Plainclothes). The film alternates between present-day Poppy and Alex, who have not spoken in two years due to an intense falling out, and past Poppy and Alex, who were each other’s best friends. 

In present day, Poppy is working her dream job as a travel journalist, being paid to go on vacations, for an esteemed publication in New York City. But, despite how glamorous her life may seem, she is struck by a deep feeling of loneliness as she feels like she’ll never find a place that feels like a true home. After coming back from a work trip, she gets a phone call from her friend (and Alex’s brother) David (Miles Heizer, of Boots), who reminds her she is supposed to be at his wedding in Barcelona the following weekend. 

Poppy is skeptical of attending because she does not want to run into Alex after their messy falling out, but after hearing he is no longer with his partner, she toys with the idea of going. While she tells herself she won’t go, she feels it’s only right to call and tell Alex she won’t make it. However, once she gets on the phone with him, she impulsively says she’ll be able to make it after all because her work is sending her to Barcelona on a work assignment. 

As fate would have it, Poppy and Alex end up landing at the airport at the same time, forcing a stiff and disingenuous reconciliation between the estranged friends. As the events of the wedding progress, the film jumps to the past to explore Poppy and Alex’s friendship. 

The pair met in college to drive home together for the summer after a friend connected the two of them because they are from the same small hometown in Ohio. From the jump, the two prove they are total opposites. Poppy is free-spirited and carefree, whereas Alex is extremely type A and has a hard time giving up control. The unlikely duo strike up a friendship on their trip and promise each other that each summer they will meet up to go on a vacation with one another, no matter what.

As the film trudges through the awkwardness of the wedding weekend, the audience understands the depth of their connection through the memories of their past vacations.

People We Meet on Vacation serves as a charming romcom for fans of Henry’s novel. To the massive credit of production designer Bruce Curtis, the world of the movie aligns with the creative and vibrant world Henry so effortlessly creates through her writing. The film’s sun-kissed, romantic look at each destination Poppy and Alex travel to really embodies the nature of Henry’s novel and the appeal of her world-building that has captured so many readers. 

Similarly, while the looks from costume designer Colin Wilkes aren’t exact matches to Poppy’s most notable outfits within the novel, they so beautifully convey her spirit in a way that allows audiences to understand her character more deeply. 

However, as charming as the film may be and as alluring as it may look, there’s not enough sustenance to keep audiences thinking about this film after its credits roll. While Emily Bader delivers an enticing turn as Poppy and Tom Blyth works to give a memorable performance with the limitations of Alex’s anxiety-driven personality, the film derails its own success by scattering its focus and overpacking its plot. 

The primary issue in the focus of the film lies in its narration, which feels utterly detached from both the plot and events of the story. The concept the movie hyperfixates on, using a vacation to allow yourself to become a new person entirely, is somehow both overstated and underexplored. The narration of the film seems to preach finding yourself through exploration and not letting where you’re from define you, but the events of the film speak more about the power of running towards, versus away from, your problems. 

It’s not that these concepts can’t co-exist; it’s that the film and its narration focus so intently on different things that it makes the movie feel utterly disjointed. Both the narration and plot revolve around big concepts in discovering one’s identity, but never fully mesh into a comprehensive conclusion.

It also feels like there is far too much plot, and not nearly enough time used to explore moments that feel vital to the story. Throughout the entire film, we are told Poppy and Alex had a friendship falling out in Tuscany, yet when we finally get to their vacation in Tuscany, this vacation in particular has so little screen time. It’s not that the reason behind their falling out doesn’t seem believable; it’s that the film moves on from it so quickly that their falling out doesn’t feel plausible. For a central plot point in the film, it feels underexplored, while smaller moments feel entirely overexplored. 

People We Meet on Vacation is charming and served well by the talents of Bader and Blyth, but it ultimately lacks conviction. It’s unable to adequately explore themes of both identity and romance in a way that makes audiences feel like they are walking away from this film with a succinct understanding of the messages that are so beloved by fans of the novel. It’s an enjoyable watch, but it doesn’t pack quite the same punch as its source material. 

People We Meet on Vacation is now available to stream globally on Netflix.