People We Meet on Vacation (2026)

PG-13 because apparently, this got a lot less spicy than the book got.  That being said, there is some sex and some nudity in the movie.  Over the course of the movie, there are a few scenes that really push that MPAA rating, but there's a lot of course correction to get that coveted PG-13.  The movie mostly dances around innuendo, never really going truly vulgar.  Still, a pretty borderline PG-13.

DIRECTOR:  Brett Haley

This might be the fastest I've ever gotten a new year movie after the new year.  When your wife asks to watch a movie --any movie! --you say "yes."  Sure, the following combination of words often spells intellectual death: Netflix original rom-com.  But my wife read the book and really enjoyed it.  I'm going to promote reading and film watching, so I went in with it for a good time.  

I am aware that I'm in the minority of people who doesn't like a rom-com.  It's not that I dislike rom-coms.  But...like...I kind of dislike most rom-coms.  The ones that are good tend to be really good.  The bad ones are insufferable.  And then there are the majority of them, which end up being incredibly forgettable given any amount of time.  The snob in me keeps watching these movies through the lens of that admitted snobbiness.  I don't like this about myself, but I acknowledge that it is deeply a part of my personality.  People We Meet on Vacation is better than most of the rom-coms I get suckered into, but I am almost confident that it will fall into the category of "unfortunately forgettable." 

The things that work are obvious.  Things that don't work are even more obvious.  But I don't want to take any shortcuts on this, despite the fact that I still have to write about Cries and Whispers after this (which is maintaining my snobby street cred.)   The number one thing about this movie is Emily Bader as Poppy.  I mean, if you were looking for an adorakble hero that is meant to be relatable and sympathetic, you have Poppy.  From moment one, she comes across as someone with the joie de vivre that a rom-com heroine should have.  I mean, I don't know how much heavy lifting a profession can carry, but Poppy's entire job is to travel the world and write for a magazine.  If the American Dream says that you can do whatever you want as long as you are willing to sacrifice for it.  Now, if I'm writing this in the looming shadow of Hallmark romances, those sacrifices tend to cause them to spiral, making them hate the choices that they decided on along the way.  Poppy is never that despondent, despite the opening where she claims to be miserable.  But Poppy, throughout the story, is always the Poppy that we love.  We discover that her separation from Alex has caused her to lose some of her spark.  It doesn't matter because Poppy is still Poppy, just a little less bright.  Emily Bader understood the assignment.  Her bright attitude and personality perfectly juxtaposes her character to Alex, who is the Mr. Darcy of the piece.

Now, I don't think this is necessarily Tom Blyth's fault, but I don't get Alex.  I think that Mr. Darcy is a fine line.  Like, Darcy is incredibly unlikable, but a lot of his unlikability comes from years of trauma.  There's so much screwed up about that guy that when Lizzie confronts him on all of his garbage, we're left with the notion that love can change people.  (Hey, I like Pride & Prejudice, okay?  I told you: snobby!)  Alex...isn't Mr. Darcy.  Don't get me wrong.  The absolute last few minutes, I like the guy again.  But Alex is kind of...terrible?  Yes, Poppy is late for their trip, which isn't good.  But Alex comes across as overly confrontational from moment one.  And there isn't a really good reason why Alex is the way he is.  It's actually oddly frustrating when Alex becomes a much nicer person, despite the fact that Poppy's behavior hasn't changed.  (Okay, to give the story a point, Poppy opens up about a vulnerable moment.  It isn't a character change for Poppy because Poppy really hadn't had a moment to be vulnerable.  He may be nicer to her because he hadn't viewed her as a human being before.  But why hadn't he?  That is also a point against Alex.) 

So the frustrating part for me, which I understand is different from the book, is the fact that Alex doesn't really shift as much as Poppy does.  If anything, Alex becomes more demanding.  Again, it might be because he's been distant from Poppy and that Poppy brings the best out of him.  I honestly was surprised by how this movie is laid out.  A lot of the movie feels like this is the story of a friendship that should have been something more.  (You know?  Friends-to-lovers?  That phrase just helped my SEO.)  Two-thirds of the movie is the will they / won't they of it all.  And you think that the movie is going to be over when, big surprise, they do, the movie decides to throw another beat in there.  And it's that other beat that frustrates me.  I hate when my students dump a bunch of summary in their writing, but I'm doing more work dancing around and idea, so a summary might actually help me a little bit.

The movie is formatted in a non-linear fashion.  The present tense has tension between Poppy and Alex, where there has been a quasi-recent falling out.  The two are bound to see each other at a wedding for Alex's brother.  The tension of the present is often diffused by flashbacks to the past, particularly summers leading up to the present day.  The flashbacks surround the trips that Poppy and Alex take together, often building the romantic tension between the two as Alex takes major steps away from being a turd.  Anyway, it all culminates when the two bring respective others on one of these trips and Poppy and Alex almost share a romantic moment when Poppy thinks that she is pregnant.  (I hear that in the book, the two sleep together at an earlier date, but I'm only here to talk about the movie.)  The fun climax of that format closes up in the present at the wedding when the two have the epiphany that they were always perfect for each other and that, despite being drastically different human beings, that they bring out the best in each other.  Happily ever after?

​But then Alex turns into a turd again.   He starts making these unreasonable demands on Poppy and there really is no consequence for that behavior.  Like, he has this reasoning for his argument that makes zero sense.  Poppy is there for a wedding.  She is heading home the next day.  The two of them confession their mutual love about an hour before the wedding.  Okay.  That's completely reasonable.  But asking Poppy to completely throw her life out the window just because she started dating her best friend.  Like, he doesn't care about her perspective at all.  I'm borderline mad for her at this point.  She goes through this whole dark night of the soul, questioning all of her choices when, really, she hasn't done a darned thing wrong.   We have this whole end-of-rom-com moment where she makes the trip to the one place she swore off (although I never really bought that character point) and literally runs after him.  We get a happily ever after in the same way that we got a happily-ever-after from Grease, where the woman has to box up her own personality for this emotionally stunted guy.  I don't care for it.  

But thank goodness for epilogues, right?  I do like that he travels with her.  We get a lot more blending with that epilogue than the movie offers.  But Poppy was willing to throw it all away for a guy who didn't shift at all.  I don't care for that in the least.  It was almost against the plot that Alex ended up not being a turd because I was not optimistic for their chances at the end.

In terms of fun, the movie is very fun.  I keep talking about how good Emily Bader is and every joke she tells lands.  The bits land.  It's just that...I don't like Alex very much.  I like what he becomes when he's around Poppy, which is exactly what the movie wanted me to think.  But it does take a lot to get Alex to a likable place.  But that's what rom-coms are all about, right?  I've already overanalyzed, so maybe I'm not the target audience.  Is it a good watch with the wife?  Sure.  Is it a great movie?  Probably not.