PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION

(director: Bret Haley; screenwriters: Yulin Kuang, Amos Vernon, Nunzio Randazzo, based on the book by Emily Henry; cinematographer: Rob C. Givens; editor: Evan Henke; music: Keegan DeWitt; cast: Emily Bader (Poppy), Tom Blyth (Alex), Sarah Catherine Hook (Sarah), Lucien Laviscount (Trey), Miles Heizer (David), Jameela Jamil (Swapna), Tommy Do (Nam), Lukas  dadGage (Buck), Alice Lee (Rachel), Molly Shannon (Wanda, Poppy’s mom), Alan Ruck (Jimmy, Poppy’s dad); Runtime: 117; MPAA Rating: PG-13; producers: Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen, Isaac Klausner; Netflix; 2026)

“Won’t ruffle your feathers.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

A glossy formulaic rom/com that turns a decent premise into a forgettable story. If you’re a fan of dull mainstream films that won’t ruffle your feathers, maybe you won’t be turned off by its annoying leads and lightweight story. It’s directed without making any waves by Bret Haley (“All Together Now”/”All the Bright People”), and is based on the 2021 bestselling book by Emily Henry. The screenplay is co-written by Yulin Kuang, Amos Vernon, and Nunzio Randazzo.
 
The daffy, chatty, and free-spirit Poppy (Emily Bader) is a New York-based travel writer. Since her time at Boston College, she has once a year for the last ten years gone on a non-romantic vacation in the summer with her stuffy and incompatible college classmate Alex (Tom Blyth, Brit actor), who after college is living a quiet life in a fictional small town in Ohio. They traveled together to the Canadian woods, beaches in New Orleans and villas in Italy. They tired of each other and two years ago stopped going on vacations together.

Poppy’s shrewd magazine editor (Jameela Jamil) encourages her to go alone to do a travel story in Barcelona on the lavish wedding of Alex’s brother David (Miles Heizer), where she will again meet Alex.

Through flashbacks we catch up on the platonic relationship that developed over the years between the personality opposites. At the wedding we follow them as they reunite as lovers.

The predictable film goes out of its way to let us know that travel can broaden your horizons and even change your ways of life. What I got from this dry flick was a thirst to watch again “When Harry Met Sally” (1989).

REVIEWED ON 4/2/2026  GRADE: C+
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