A road trip with a total stranger sounds like a nightmare, and after a burrito-related disaster, it truly becomes one for main characters Poppy Wright (Emily Bader) and Alex Nilsen (Tom Blyth). Despite the rocky start, what was supposed to be a one-day affair turned into a detour-filled excursion, transforming the unlikely duo into best friends for life or even something more.
On Friday, “People We Meet on Vacation” made its debut on Netflix as a long-awaited movie adaptation of the best-selling novel by Emily Henry. Paired with a heated blanket and chocolate, the movie is a perfect romantic comedy for a night in. It is refreshing and genuine, bringing Henry’s words to life in a unique way. Warm lighting, witty actors and romance entrap viewers, exactly what people want to see clawing out of the holiday oversaturation currently on streaming platforms.
The film follows Wright, an outgoing and fearless Type B who becomes a travel blogger for a prestigious magazine, and Nilsen, a grounded and introverted teacher. The plot spans a decade of annual summer vacations together until one summer changes everything and causes a two-year rift between the two. When Nilsen’s brother invites Poppy to his destination wedding, it leads to one last trip where they confront their changing dynamic and what their relationship means.
A key characteristic of the story is that it is not linear. Viewers fall in love with the mystery, becoming immersed in the present storyline as well as flashbacks to past vacations that reveal Wright and Nilsen’s growing connection over the years. From their first trip to the Canadian wilderness, where the infamous “Vacation Alex” persona is born, to bar crawls across Bourbon Street in New Orleans, LA, it becomes clear that there is something more between them, keeping the audience hooked because they have yet to learn what caused the two to grow apart.
The shift in tone from the past to the present storyline seems difficult to convey on screen, but the soundtrack does a great job at showing the emotional contrast. “Forever Your Girl” by Paula Abdul captures the 2000s romantic comedy feel while also playing an important role in the plot. The song echoes the film’s themes of young romance and personal growth. On the other side of the emotional spectrum, “Cool About It” by Boygenius plays during a time of confession and heartache, highlighting both characters’ search for home and belonging. The soundtrack employs distinct musical styles to signal shifts between the past and the present. Nostalgic and melancholy tracks represent the former, and summery, upbeat tracks like “Nanã” by Polo and Pan capture the excitement and wanderlust of their younger years. Overall, the wide range of music acts as a narrative device, providing emotional depth where a voiceover might typically be used.
Another way this film creates authenticity is through lighting and cinematography. Each setting has its own distinct lighting and visual styles. The color palette for Canada is full of lush, green forests and lakeside shots to evoke a fresh, slightly rustic vibe, mirroring Wright and Nilsen’s early, more adventurous trips. To capture the romantic, sun-drenched Italian countryside of Tuscany, they use warm tones and historic architecture that represent the duo’s emotional shift. The cinematography spotlights the contrasts between Wright’s spontaneous and colorful travel style versus Nilsen’s grounded nature, often framing them in visually-rich environments that reflect their evolving relationship.
The film peaked with 17.5 million viewers over its launch weekend. It currently has a 75% on the Rotten Tomatoes meter, with mixed reviews from critics. Fans of the book claim the movie did not do the characters justice, and the missing vacations that were featured in the novel but not on screen, like Nashville, or claiming that just switching the locations, like moving the finale from Palm Springs to Barcelona, were necessary to understand the characters’ evolving relationship and give them depth. On the other hand, people new to the story fell in love with the characters and their story, even from its less detailed on-screen execution.
The anticipated love confession did not feel emotional, but rather rushed. The book encapsulates the slow burn fully from Wright’s perspective, giving her character more depth instead of reducing her to comedic relief like in the film. Most likely due to the limited runtime, the movie focuses more on the “com” than the “rom” elements of the story. The film’s lack of Wright’s internal monologue is crucial to understanding her thought process, fears and decade-long struggle with vulnerability and commitment. The film medium struggles to replicate this level of introspection, which can make Wright’s final grand, romantic gesture seem less earned or sudden to some viewers. There’s no doubt that Blyth and Bader have chemistry, but it felt like the on-screen dynamic lacked the subtle, deep yearning and “small moments” that conveyed the characters’ long history in the book, making the eventual love confession more abrupt and less like the culmination of a slow burn.
Ultimately, while the movie preserved the heart of the story, the inherent differences between mediums meant that some of the novel’s emotional depth and gradual pacing were compromised to fit the runtime, resulting in rushed love confessions. Blyth and Bader gave exceptional performances through longing stares and undeniably exceptional comedic timing. Although the chemistry of the original story was not matched, the two brought a new, unique love story to the screens. The two breathed new life into Henry’s writing, establishing themselves as exceptional actors and an even more exceptional duo. Viewers should drop the expectation that the movie will live up to the book and look at the film with fresh eyes; doing so makes the movie a must-watch.
Rating: 4/5
