People We Meet on Vacation (2026) Review!!

Synopsis – Follows Alex and Poppy, she wants to explore the world; he prefers to stay home with a book but somehow they are the very best of friends. They live far apart, but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one week of vacation together.

My Take – Up until a decade or two ago, romantic comedies were an important part of the film making shuffle. Though, they mostly stuck to a few formulas, usually about a mismatched couple who would spend some time together and then fall in love, these kind of films not just dominated the box office and catapulted the actors to stardom, but also often became a part of pop culture too. Mostly because they succeeded in being reliable, familiar and comforting.

Now, while we see the occasional Anyone but You (2023) emerging as a sleeper hit, the genre is largely relegated to streaming rather than theatrical releases. Mainly acting as vehicles for up-and-coming performers and something that does not test your attention span.

However, I had a certain expectation from this latest Brett Haley (Hearts Beat Loud, All the Bright Places) directorial, due to the hype surrounding it. After all it was adapting author Emily Henry’s best-selling novel and was being backed by a very vocal & loyal fan base. And as someone who hadn’t read the book and knew nothing about the story, I was ready for it to hit me with what it’s got. Add to that the fact that it was releasing in the dead of winter, the film clearly wants to function as a warm-weather romance, a soft-focus reminder of beaches, bad decisions and better timing.

Unfortunately, while the screenplay by Yulin Kuang, Amos Vernon, and Nunzio Randazzo successfully brings the much-loved 2021 novel’s charming and vibrant world to life, it also struggles to make itself memorable beyond its 118 minutes runtime. Resulting in a fine experience that mainly relies on Emily Bader and Tom Blyth‘s building chemistry, but that’s about it.

No doubt, the style, structure, and archetypal characters are all easy-going and familiar, but the film, despite potential, never strays from that well-trodden path of friends-to-lovers formula and the re-examined question about if men and women can ever be just friends? There aren’t even that many big laughs, just a constant stream of mild chuckles as the leads wander around beautiful places with each other instead of their respective partners.

Sure, it is light-hearted and works perfectly if you want to put on something that does not ask too much of your energy as a viewer. For some that maybe exactly what they are looking for at the end of a hectic week.

The story follows Poppy (Emily Bader) and Alex (Tom Blyth), who co-incidentally grew up in the same town but never knew each other until they met at college, and then goes on to explore their 10-year-long friendship.Even though their first meeting wasn’t the best one, they felt intrigued by each other’s personalities to the point where they become friends, despite being polar opposites as people.

Emily is more free-spirited, adventurous and expressive while Alex is a creature of habit, who loves sticking to a plan and is mildly uptight. Add to the fact that they both want to keep things platonic. As Alex keeps finding himself in an on-and-off relationship with Sarah (Sarah Catherine Hook), and Poppy refuses to settle down with someone in one place.

And after their insane first trip to Squamish, Canada, the two end up making a pact to travel to a new destination every summer, no matter where they’re working or who they’re dating. But after traveling around every summer for a decade, things go haywire on a Tuscany trip, resulting in an intense falling out.

Now in the present day, two years later, Poppy is working her dream job as a travel journalist, being paid to go on vacations, for an esteemed publication in New York City, but, despite how glamorous her life may seem, she is struck by a deep feeling of loneliness as she feels like she’ll never find a place that feels like a true home. That is until, she receives a phone call from Alex’s brother David (Miles Heizer), reminding her to attend his wedding in Barcelona the following weekend, where the estranged friends might finally get a chance to reconcile.

Though the nonlinear structure of the narrative is the main hook, the film’s greatest asset is its ease. The chemistry between the leads, while never electric, is gentle enough to keep things watchable. Their dynamic works best in quieter moments — shared glances, small jokes, silences that suggest a deeper familiarity than the script often earns.

Also, to the massive credit of production designer Bruce Curtis, there’s also undeniable polish in the way the film looks: sun-drenched locations, postcard-ready frames and a color palette that screams escapism. Between the budding romantic interests, the scenery chew up the scenes as well as its leads acting like a third character.

However, director Haley and the trio of writers struggle to justify why the pair wouldn’t just be together from the get-go, and every belated attempt to stop them from realizing their connection feels as strained as any attempt to bring humor to the story. The pact was flawed and unfair to begin with. No partner of theirs was ever going to be okay with the concept of these two traveling the world together. But they do and with constant sexual tension between them.

Add to that the concept of using a vacation to allow yourself to become a new person entirely, is somehow both overstated and under-explored. The narration of the film seems to preach finding yourself through exploration and not letting where you’re from define you, but the events speak more about the power of running towards, versus away from, your problems, leading to a lack of focus.

But being from the particular genre, at the end of the journey, the two will-they-won’t-they couple find themselves together, and we can’t help but feel comfortable with the familiarity of the structure.

Performance wise, Emily Bader delivers an enticing turn, while Tom Blyth puts serious effort to make his turn memorable, despite the limitations of Alex’s anxiety-driven personality. While Sarah Catherine Hook, Lucien Laviscount, Miles Heizer, Jameela Jamil, Tommy Do, Lukas Gage, Alice Lee, Spencer Neville, Ian Porter, Madeleine Akua, Molly Shannon and Alan Ruck try to inject life and humor in their small roles. On the whole, ‘People We Meet on Vacation‘ is a pleasant yet familiar rom com that offers comfort without consequence.