As many people in my life may know, I have been anxiously awaiting the release of Netflix’s latest romcom, “People We Meet On Vacation,” which is based on the Emily Henry novel of the same name.
I had been talking about it constantly, so when the movie came out on Jan. 9, I sat down with my boyfriend and pressed play — and it is safe to say I was not disappointed.
The movie opens with Poppy Wright (Emily Balder), a travel writer for a popular magazine, R+R. For the past five years, Poppy has traveled the world and reviewed destinations for the magazine, but something in her life doesn’t feel complete.
Coming home to a barely lived-in apartment, Poppy gets a phone call from her friend David (Miles Heizer), reminding her that his wedding in Barcelona is coming up shortly. With this, she realizes that Barcelona will be the perfect opportunity to reconnect with David’s brother and her former best friend, Alex Nilsen (Tom Blyth), whom she hasn’t spoken to in two years.
Following her revelation, the movie moves back in time to nine summers ago, when Alex and Poppy first met as first-year students at Boston College, and a mutual friend found out they were both from the fictional town of Linfield, Ohio.
Fun fact: Emily Henry grew up in the Cincinnati area and even went to high school in Butler County. Her small town in southern Ohio became the main inspiration for her characters’ own hometown.
While stopping at a gas station in the middle of Pennsylvania, the duo lock themselves out of the car, leading to them having to spend the night together in a hotel, though Alex is insistent on sleeping on the floor out of respect for his on-again-off-again girlfriend back in Linfield. As they lie awake, Poppy and Alex begin to open up to one another, creating an everlasting bond.
Throughout the rest of the movie, the timeline jumps back and forth between the present summer and each summer before. After a camping trip in British Columbia, the friends make a pact to meet up every summer to go on a vacation together. However, as the story progresses, we uncover why Alex and Poppy have been separated for such a long time.
“People We Meet On Vacation” is such a needed return to genuine, heartfelt romcoms. Many of the scenes call to mind another classic friends-to-lovers romcom: “When Harry Met Sally.” The writing is witty, and Blyth and Bader not only have great romantic chemistry but also a strong platonic connection, which only makes this story feel more believable.
Along with performances from Blyth and Bader, the movie has several guest appearances, such as Jameela Jamil (“The Good Place”) as Poppy’s editor at R+R, Swapna, Alan Ruck (“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”) as Poppy’s dad and Molly Shannon (“Saturday Night Live”) as Poppy’s mom. The cast added a delightful element of comedic relief and understanding to Poppy’s fun, bubbly character.
Aside from who we see on screen, director Brett Haley made a conscious effort to stay as true to the original novel as possible. Throughout the press tour, Henry often praised Haley for not only taking the time and care to make a great adaptation, but also for thinking of the readers throughout the entire process.
The movie is everything I could have hoped for in a book adaptation. However, it is still an adaptation, so there will always be details left out that may disappoint readers, including myself.
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Many elements surrounding Poppy and Alex’s lives and history are omitted due to time and filming constraints, which is understandable. Nonetheless, the instances in the book where we see the characters break down and share a part of themselves with each other that they have never told anyone else. This creates such a powerful dynamic between them that you can’t help but be emotionally attached to their love story. While the movie can survive without those details, there is a layer of depth that, if included, could have pushed the story from great to spectacular.
Though I have these qualms, I will continue to recommend “People We Meet On Vacation” every chance I get.
Rating: 9/10
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