RIOTUS

Two best friends. A multitude of dreamy vacation spots. A blooming romance that could make or break a relationship. That’s what we’re in for in People We Meet on Vacation, the new Netflix rom-com adapted from author Emily Henry’s popular novel and directed by Brett Haley. I had just finished the book before pressing play on the movie, so it was fresh on my mind. Despite all the changes, and even some of the moments the screenplay—by Yulin Kuang, Amos Vernon, Nunzio Randazzo—cuts out, People We Meet on Vacation is a vast improvement on much of the streamer’s other rom-coms. And yet, I couldn’t help but think it would have been greater as a miniseries, similar to what Netflix did with One Day, another book adaptation that fared better as a show than as a movie. 

People We Meet on Vacation follows Poppy Wright (Emily Bader), a travel writer for R&R who’s lost her enthusiasm for glitzy vacations. Mostly, it’s because she’s been going solo and, after five years there, is now attuned to the loneliness such getaways can bring. She also misses the one-week trips she and her best friend Alex Nilsen (Tom Blyth) take every summer. That is, the ones they used to take before they stopped talking after their last trip two summers before the start of the film. Enter Alex’s younger brother, David, whose wedding in Barcelona, Spain, brings the pair back together, forcing them to confront the awkwardness between them now. Can their friendship survive the onslaught of romantic feelings? 

Obviously, this wouldn’t be a rom-com if the answer were no, but the journey is more important than the destination. Bader and Blyth are experts at carrying this story. They have excellent chemistry and the looks they share—whether or not the other person is looking—will be enough to have you invested in their relationship. Their chemistry more than makes up for some of the film’s gaps; namely, glossing over some vacations before they declare their feelings for each other. It’s one of the biggest problems with rom-coms these days. 

This lack of a proper buildup leaves the ending feeling a bit rushed. It’s certainly earned, but the payoff would have been all the sweeter if more of the groundwork had been laid out. The film has enough of the book plugged in there to keep the spirit of the source material alive, but many of the vacations Alex and Poppy take are abbreviated, giving us only glimpses into their relationship before coming back to their present (and two years post-friendship). There’s a lot of information that’s left by the wayside, which undercuts some of the characters’ development. 

And yet it remains a deeply charismatic and breezy watch. Inspired by When Harry Met Sally, People We Meet on Vacation is the kind of opposites-attract story that works. No one is trying too hard; the characters aren’t at all grating or so ridiculous that you want to shout at them to get it together already. It’s nothing but a contentedly pleasant, endearing rom-com that generally nails the tropes it lays out without straining too hard to do it. Bader and Blyth are well-cast and uplift the material. 

My biggest complaint is primarily that I wanted more time with these characters. What makes them tick beyond their basic characteristics? Elements that are smoothed out for the sake of runtime risk flattening the characters and their story, which needed more depth and screentime to justify certain moments. But for what it is, People We Meet on Vacation doesn’t disappoint. It’s a rom-com that has enough romance and comedy to keep it afloat. It’s been a while since that has happened, especially with the amount of frustrating and cookie-cutter rom-coms that have been released in recent years. 

The film feels like a return to what we’ve always loved about rom-coms to begin with. Charming characters, some yearning, occasionally quippy dialogue, and a well-used and executed trope that will leave you smiling by the end. It ultimately works. And if the point of the film was to make us feel like we were on vacation—that giddy, infectious happiness that leaves us wanting more after it’s over—then People on Vacation succeeds.