People We Meet on Vacation Review: Wish You Were Here

The beach read has long been dismissed as a guilty pleasure, the literary equivalent of a frozen margarita: sweet, easy, and best consumed while your brain is on vacation. Authors like Sophie Kinsella, Nicholas Sparks, and Elin Hilderbrand have built empires on books meant to be devoured poolside, their spines cracked and pages warped by sunscreen. But Emily Henry has become something of a phenomenon, her novels selling millions while earning genuine critical respect. That her 2021 bestseller People We Meet on Vacation is now her first book-to-film adaptation feels like a coronation, and Netflix has delivered a charming, fizzy concoction that goes down remarkably easy.

Free-spirited travel writer Poppy (Emily Bader, Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin) and methodical Alex (Tom Blyth, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) are polar opposites who became unlikely best friends after a bad first impression, sharing a ride home from college to their hometown (from which they never previously knew one another?). For nearly a decade, they’ve spent every summer vacation together, hopping from New Orleans to their final summer at an Italian villa with their significant others, a revealing stay that leads to a two-year estrangement. Reunited at a destination wedding in Barcelona, they rekindle their friendship by talking about life, love, hopes, and fears. Everyone around them has seen the obvious over time. They don’t. Or won’t.

The leads are perfectly cast. Blyth continues to prove himself one of the most versatile young actors working, shifting effortlessly between Alex’s warm restraint, the cold menace of Coriolanus Snow, and most recently in the aloof distance of an undercover cop in Plainclothes. But this is predominantly Bader’s film, and she’s magnetic. Her comedic timing is sharp, her emotional beats land with real weight, and director Brett Haley (I’ll See You in My Dreams) was right to compare her presence to Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts in their rom-com heydays. The chemistry between Bader and Blyth is the engine that drives everything, making you believe their initial friction could blossom into friendship and eventually, maybe, possibly, love.

The supporting cast gets less room to breathe since the film so clearly wants its spotlight trained on the leads. Molly Shannon (Spin Me Round) and Alan Ruck deliver some fun moments as Poppy’s parents during a memorable send-off scene, and Jameela Jamil (Marry Me) looks impossibly chic as Poppy’s boss at a travel magazine (I should have written hotel reviews instead of movie reviews; I could be staring at the sea from my balcony in Sardinia right now). Try not to think too hard about the privilege on display throughout—last-minute flights booked like they’re ordering pizza, zero discussion of cost as a factor in any life decision—or you might start resenting these exceedingly lucky, beautiful people.

Director Haley, who previously brought the same golden-hour warmth to Hearts Beat Loud and All the Bright Places, knows exactly what movie he’s making. Cinematographer Rob Givens shifts his visual palette based on where we are in the friendship’s timeline, always ensuring his leads are bathed in flattering light while showcasing the gorgeous locations. Keegan DeWitt‘s score matches each mood, and between needle drops—get ready to have Paula Abdul’s “Forever Your Girl” stuck in your head—the film maintains a breezy energy that rarely flags. Costume designer Colin Wilkes deserves mention for dressing his actors across a decade of fashion without anything feeling dated or costumey, including a few stunning dresses for Bader near the finale.

As the story approaches its inevitable conclusion, it stumbles into some tired tropes it had previously avoided. The conflict that arises feels manufactured, the kind of misunderstanding that could be solved by two adults with a long history using their words instead of their emotions. The film recovers with a finale as cute as you’d want, but that wobble lingers. Still, this is a smart, engaging crowd-pleaser from a streamer that too often delivers forgettable originals. It’s the kind of movie you’ll want to recommend next time someone special asks what to watch—just add snacks and maybe that frozen margarita to along with this chill rom-com.