Film Review: People We Meet on Vacation

Netflix released People We Meet on Vacation, the book-to-movie adaptation of Emily Henry's novel, You and Me on Vacation.

One of my first reads of the year was You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry. This was a priority read for me because I knew that the Netflix adaptation was coming out in January, and I wanted to squeeze in the book before watching.

In America, the book is called People We Meet on Vacation, whereas in the UK it has the title You and Me on Vacation. However, the Netflix movie uses the American title, being an American film.

I have enjoyed every single one of Emily Henry's novels that I have read before 2026. My love for her writing has, thankfully, continued into this year as I devoured You and Me on Vacation.

I loved the book, and really enjoyed the movie too, so I thought I'd share my review of the film, People We Meet on Vacation, and give a brief comparison to the book.

Review of People We Meet on Vacation

Genre: Romcom

Stars: Emily Bader, Tom Blyth

Adaptation of: People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

Rating: 8/10

Synopsis

The synopsis for the movie is:

"Poppy wants to explore the world, and Alex prefers to stay home with a good book, but somehow they are the very best of friends. They live far apart, but for a decade, they have spent one week of summer vacation together."

That, in a nutshell, is the basic premise of the movie and the book. However, there is a little more to the story.

Overall Thoughts

As someone who enjoys watching romcoms, I thought People We Meet on Vacation marked a great resurgence of the film genre. I haven't watched a romcom quite like this one in a while, and I absolutely loved it.

However, as someone who has read the book, I did find some slight drawbacks, but overall I did really enjoy the movie and would recommend watching it, whether you're a fan of the novel or not.

Characters

People We Meet on Vacation follows Poppy Wright and Alex Neilson, two completely different university students who share a ride home for the summer. During their journey home, the two form a friendship, and from there, we see Alex and Poppy become best friends and spend one week every summer together.

I loved these two characters when I read the books. They definitely follow the opposites-attract trope, but it works.

Poppy is outgoing, confident, wacky, and unashamed to be her wonderful, weird self. Alex, on the other hand, is quiet, reserved, definitely more introverted, and loves stability and order. It's safe to say that these find the other a bit out of their comfort zone.

But after the first trip, their friendship grows stronger. Poppy is 100% herself around Alex; she doesn't worry what he thinks of her. Alex, whilst still reserved, opens up to Poppy and embraces 'Vacation Alex', who is weird and outgoing for one week of the year.

The characters in the book were a lot stronger on the page than those in the film in terms of relatability; however, Tom Blythe and Emily Bader did an exceptional job at portraying Alex and Poppy. I loved their acting and would definitely love to see them cast together in another romcom.

The banter was there, the chemistry was there, and they brought Poppy and Alex to life really well.

Book Aesthetic Credit: WriteWatchWork

Plot

Friends-to-lovers is a romance trope that I underestimate a lot. I tend to lean more towards enemies-to-lovers; however, Emily Henry did a superb job of crafting a friends-to-lovers romance that showcases true friends and developing feelings over time.

The movie, of course, alters some of the plot from the book. For starters, the present-day trip in the book is in Palm Springs, whereas in the movie, it's in Barcelona. That didn't have too much of an impact, in my opinion; it still worked really well.

I loved how the movie structured the flashbacks back and forth between the present and the past, showcasing the different trips that Alex and Poppy go on. Not every trip is involved in the film because there are quite a lot, spanning eight (I think) years, but we get the key moments.

The plot of the movie was similar to the novel in that Alex and Poppy reunite after two years of not speaking or seeing each other at Alex's brother's wedding. During this trip, old feelings and memories are brought up, whilst new secrets are revealed.

I must say, I am very glad that Netflix included the New Orleans and Norway trips because for me, they are so important in the book. In the film, the New Orleans trip was so good; I loved the dance scene in particular and how they incorporated Poppy rolling her ankle into this scene (in the book, this happens on their trip to Vail up a mountain).

The blend of different trips worked really well for the movie, in particular, Croatia and Tuscany.

If you've read the book, you'll know that Croatia is when things take a turn for Alex and Poppy and after that trip, they don't speak for two years. In the movie, however, the big fallout between them is in Tuscany.

The film incorporates some of what happened in Croatia into the Tuscany and trip, and I felt that this incident was much more impactful than in the book, honestly.

Book vs Movie Comparison

Having read the book and watched the movie, I do still prefer the book. However, I loved the movie, and there were key aspects to it I thought were done incredibly well (maybe even better than the book).

One of these is the final scene. In the book, Poppy visits the school that Alex teaches at and meets Sarah there; she then goes to the pub to tell Alex how she feels. At the time of reading that, I loved it. I thought it was a sweet and heartbreaking scene all wrapped into one.

But in the movie, this doesn't happen. Instead, Poppy bumps into Sarah at the airport, they move on from past grievances, and she ends up returning home and running after Alex. This was so much more dramatic and impactful because throughout the film, a major difference between Alex and Poppy is that she hates running.

So I loved that ending to the movie.

However, on the flip side, there are aspects of the movie that I think could have been developed a bit more to echo the impact and effects in the book. For example, the issue surrounding Alex's back in the movie was such a short sequence of scenes, and his backstory was much less explored in the movie.

But overall, I do think People We Meet on Vacation, the movie, is a great adaptation of the novel, and I will probably re-watch it because it is a pure romcom.

If you've seen the movie, let me know what you thought.

Until next time...