It’s Here! The People We Meet on Vacation Movie is Here!
It’s here! The People We Meet On Vacation movie is finally here! I’ve been highly anticipating this Netflix film for a while now, so keep reading if you’re interested in hearing all of my praise and critiques for the People We Meet On Vacation movie.
How was the cast? The fashion? The different locations that Poppy and Alex travel to? Did their chemistry match the characters in the book?
Well, don’t worry. I just watched the movie today so I’m excited to give you all of my honest thoughts and opinions in this People We Meet on Vacation movie review.
And if you enjoyed today’s blog post, you can find more of my thoughts on movies and television here.
What is the People We Meet On Vacation movie about?
This movie is an adaptation of Emily Henry book, People We Meet on Vacation.
Poppy Wright and Alex Nielsen are a pair of unlikely best friends who first met in college. Poppy is a free-spirited and funny writer. Alex is more serious, although he sometimes lets Poppy break him out of their shell. All throughout their twenties they have gone on vacations together. Poppy is a travel writer and thanks to her job, she gets to visit lots of different cities for free, and manages to bring Alex along for the ride.
But during their last trip, they got into a fight. That was a couple of years ago. And now Alex’s brother (played by Miles Heizer) is getting married in Barcelona, and Poppy has to decide whether to attend the trip or not. Would it be weird? Probably. But the idea of seeing Alex again after not speaking for so long is hard to resist.
They’ve also insisted that they were just best friends, even though everyone can see that the two of them are the perfect romantic match. But while summer vacation is great, it doesn’t last forever. What happens when Summer is over and they have to go back to the real world?
How Was the Cast?
I thought the cast was fantastic! Poppy is played by Emily Bader, while Alex is played by Tom Blyth. I wasn’t familiar with either of these actors and felt that they did a really good job. From the scene where they first met during their road trip I was like, oh boy. Poppy is a hoot. Routine-loving Alex is the driver while free-spirited Poppy is the passenger. But the way that the actors played off each other was so good
It was fun to see Jameela Jamil as Poppy’s boss. Meanwhile, Sarah Catherine Hook from White Lotus Season 3 and Lukas Gage from White Lotus Season 1 also made appearances. And then there’s Molly Shannon! Poppy’s parents were really adorable and I loved seeing Molly Shannon in the part of Poppy’s Mom.
And wait… Molly Shannon was also briefly in White Lotus Season 1. Haha. So many White Lotus actors were in this movie!
The Format
I felt that the writers of this movie did a good job of balancing the past and the present in their storytelling. In the present, Poppy and Alex are in a fight. Or maybe it would be better to describe it as a falling out.
So present day is more than a little awkward as Poppy and Alex get reacquainted. There’s this funny conversation during the car ride where Poppy is like, “Are we the kind of people that talk about the weather now?” And it’s true. And so cringy.
The filmmakers interspersed different clips from their different vacations throughout the present day story and it was really fun. From their very first road trip together, it was clear that the two of them were the perfect platonic travel companions.
I do wish we could have seen more of their trips. And I did notice that the plot was slightly different from the book (although there were a lot of similarities) so that was interesting.
The Chemistry
I thought that the actors who played Alex and Poppy had great chemistry, and that’s very important to this story. Because although there was a careful balance of their friendship during all of their trips, there was also a lot of happiness and silliness going on. I have no idea how their partners were okay with them going on vacations alone, to be honest.
Poppy was adorable from the very beginning. And it was fun to watch Alex break out of his shell, like when he went skinny dipping with the other people at their camp.
The Ending
It is a little different from the book, but still satisfying for people who love happy endings.
What’s that? An author cameo?
I’m I’m not mistaken, I’m pretty sure I saw Emily Henry in one of the scenes as an extra! So keep your eyes peeled. I always find it so fun when an author gets to be in the movie of their book. Like, I’m pretty sure Stephanie Meyer got to attend the wedding in Breaking Dawn Part I. Lol.
In Conclusion
Anyway, I’ll stop gushing. That’s it for now. I just had to stop in and say how much I enjoyed the People we Meet on Vacation movie. It made me really happy and I know that it’s a movie I’ll enjoy watching again and again.
But hey… With that being said, I am not hard to please. I know that some more hardcore fans will have issues with it. And that’s okay. But I like to enjoy things for what they are and this was a really feel-good film to me.
Thanks for reading my blog post about the People We Meet on Vacation movie. And if you want to check it out yourself, you can watch it on Netflix as the release date was today: January 9, 2026.
