Film Review : People We Meet On Vacation (2026)

Attention Booktok Girls: January 9th marks the day our screens are blessed with the first adaption of New York Times best selling author Emily Henry’s romance novels. I first read People We Meet on Vacation around 2022, not long after it was published. I am an avid reader, but I wouldn’t say romance is a genre I typically find myself gravitating towards. However at the time, I had heard wonderful things about the book and wanted a break from my usual reads. Upon finishing it, I recommended it to everyone I knew. Emily Henry has made her way into my favorite authors list with every new book she publishes, and, in my opinion, People We Meet on Vacation isn’t even her best novel. It’s safe to say I was heavily anticipating this film release this year.

Starring Tom Blythe (The Hunger Games, Billy the Kid) and Emily Bader (My Lady Jane, Paranormal Activity), People We Meet on Vacation is the love story of two people who couldn’t be more different. Poppy (Bader) is an outgoing, bubbly, happy-go-lucky travel blogger who values her freedom and independence. Alex (Blythe) is..well, normal. Alex likes routine, familiarity, and above all wants to plant roots somewhere he feels at home. When we start the movie, Poppy and Alex have not talked in two years for reasons unknown to the viewer. Alex’s brother, David, calls Poppy begging her to come to his wedding in Barcelona for a week- there is only one problem. Alex will be there. On a whim, Poppy accepts the invitation and whisks herself off to Spain, thinking this might be her chance to finally fix things with Alex.

As we watch Poppy and Alex dance around each other in present time, we are given flashbacks of the trips the two take together every summer to ensure they always stay friends and always have a trip to go on. It’s through these flashbacks that we really start to see the way the two of them bring out different sides of each other. Particularly Alex, who, when he’s with Poppy, is a more fun, care-free, less structured version of himself he calls, “Vacation Alex.” We also see Poppy start to evaluate the things in her own life, like relationships and what she truly wants out of life which she never seems to know the answer to. 

I think the movie does a fantastic job bringing the chemistry the characters had in the books to the screen. They really do feel like best friends. The movie also does a wonderful job of catching the same vibe as the book- fun and bright, but with that care-free edge that gives you the same feeling as a vacation. Where I think it falls flat compared to the book is Alex. We don’t hear or see many of his motivations and hang-ups as to why he never pursued Poppy in the first place, which really gets hashed out in the books. This insight to him is what gave the love confession in the book a grandiose feeling. We know how Poppy feels, but the look into Alex’s head we get in the book are only brief, passing lines in the movie. While I understand we are following Poppy and this is her story, as well as things being cut down for movie and screentime purposes, the choice to add a little more substance to Alex would’ve made a huge difference to the way their love story finishes on screen.

Overall, I think this is a decent adaptation of Emily Henry’s vision. It feels safe for a debut movie release; fun, charismatic and quite funny at times. It also still feels like we’re watching and learning about real people, which is one of the things that has always driven me to seek out Henry’s work year after year. I am excited to see more adaptations of her work on the big screen in the future.

Score :

8/10