REVIEW: ‘People We Meet On Vacation’ is the Perfect Movie to Warm Yourself Up This Winter

Emily Henry’s best-selling novel, People We Meet on Vacation, is coming to life in a new Netflix movie, and it is the perfect movie to warm yourself up this winter season.

Starring Emily Bader and Tom Blyth as our leads, Poppy and Alex, the movie transitions between two timelines. The current timeline where Poppy and Alex find themselves at odds as they prepare to celebrate Alex’s brother David’s (Miles Heizer) wedding in Barcelona and the past where we learn how the pair met, and the various vacations they found themselves on over the years. As the movie progresses, we watch the two deny their chemistry and miscommunicate with one another until it all becomes too much and the two have decide what their future looks like together.

Emily Henry has dominated the romance genre for years, and this book is a fan favorite among her devoted followers. To be able to pull this movie off, director Brett Haley, had to not only find a pair with undeniable chemistry, but also a pair who could pull off the humor that makes Henry’s story so great. Bader and Blyth do just that. Bader flawlessly captures Poppy’s eccentric personality, while Blyth falls easily into Alex’s strait-laced nature. The two combine to create the perfect will they/won’t they chemistry that jumps off the screen. As the audience watches their vacations unfold, the pair really lean into their characters, and the chemistry easily comes to life. They find the comedy not only in their own characters but manage to pull it out of each other as well. For those familiar with the original story, there are several scenes in Henry’s book that highlight the miscommunications between the pairs that at some points seem unnecessary. The movie has the same problem. However, if readers didn’t let that stop them from finishing the book, these scenes won’t stop audiences from finishing the movie.

For devoted fans of Henry, you may be disappointed as the movie is not a like for like adaptation. Haley has re-worked scenes and changed story locations to help better tell his version of the story. With that said, the changes don’t impact the overall story. The humor is still there, the dancing is still there, and the romance is still there. Haley and his team have stayed true to what made the book so good.

If you are looking for a movie that will whisk you a way to a reality where everything ends up all right in the end, then this movie is for you. Like most rom coms, this movie isn’t trying to be something its not. It’s not trying to win big awards or teach you a lesson, it is trying to transport the audience to a world filled with friendship and love. Book lovers, if you go in with an open mind, you will love every second of the movie just as you did in the original book.

Grade: A-