Film Review

People We Meet on Vacation
Falls Short

It nails the When Harry Met Sally opening, but then wanders off and forgets to bring the comedy home

| published August 9, 2026 |

By Sandi Jerome,
Thursday Review contributor

There's something so satisfying about a book to screen adaptation that actually respects where it came from, and going in, that's the feeling I had settling in to watch People We Meet on Vacation. It's based on Emily Henry's beloved novel, and let me tell you, this project had quite a journey before it ever hit our screens. Word first got out about it back in late 2022, but it wasn't until the summer of 2024 that they finally landed on the cast that felt just right. It skipped the whole movie theater route entirely and went straight to streaming worldwide, and by the numbers alone, it did just fine. We're talking over seventeen million views in the very first weekend, landing right at the top of the charts.

Emily Henry wrote this story as her own little love letter to those classic travel romances, the kind where two folks who seem like total opposites end up falling for each other. She shared some kind words with fans before the movie came out about how happy she was with the casting. And going in, you could feel the fingerprints of the old greats all over this story, especially When Harry Met Sally. Much like that timeless favorite, this tale follows a deep, complicated friendship that stretches across twelve years, except instead of trading New York's crisp autumn streets, we get sunny, tropical Hawaiian vibes. Henry has said Nora Ephron's classic was her true north star here, like she wanted to give us a millennial version with the genders flipped. You remember how Harry and Sally spent that whole movie arguing over whether men and women could ever just be friends without romance getting tangled up in it? Well, Poppy and Alex are supposed to be living out that very same question, dancing around the line for ten years of trips together before it all comes to a head on one last getaway in Barcelona. There's also a little something borrowed from Same Time Next Year in here too, that lovely idea of two people who lead totally separate lives but carve out one sacred trip a year just to reconnect.

Now here's where I have to be honest with you, because watching it was a different experience than reading up on it. That opening really does tip its hat to When Harry Met Sally, and I loved that little wink right out of the gate. But that's about as far as the comparison holds up. After that, the movie kind of loses its footing. It jumps around in time so much that if you happen to look away from the screen and miss the little title card telling you which year or which trip you're on, you are lost. That's the exact thing Same Time Next Year did so well, that movie never let you forget where you stood in the relationship, and this one just doesn't have that same clarity. It made the whole friendship feel more fragmented than earned, when it should have felt like it was building toward something.

And here's the other thing I missed dearly: the comedy. I love a good romcom specifically because I want to laugh, really laugh, the kind where you're practically in tears. As Good as it Gets has that one scene where the dog mimics his steps, and it gets me every single time. I about lose it laughing no matter how many times I've seen it. Same with Something’s Gotta’ Give and the dancing Harrys! But this movie just doesn't have that gear. It stays warm and gentle the whole way through, making its case that a solid friendship is the best foundation for love, but it never lets loose enough to be genuinely funny. It's a sweet watch, but it left me wanting more spark.

Brett Haley took the director's chair for this one, and he's got a real knack for balancing big emotional moments with light, easy humor, even if that humor stayed pretty mild here. The script came together thanks to Yulin Kuang, working alongside Amos Vernon and Nunzio Randazzo, and they clearly worked hard to keep the book's heart intact. Kuang isn't just any screenwriter either, she's written her own acclaimed romance novel called How to End a Love Story, and she's already lined up to adapt another one of Henry's books. From what I hear, the whole cast and crew grew genuinely close during filming, and the director even set up relaxed, summer camp style rehearsals so the leads could build that easy, lived in friendship chemistry, and honestly, that part does come through on screen even if the pacing around it doesn't always work.

If you're the type who loves spotting real locations from a movie, buckle up, because the production team worked some real magic here. Even though Poppy and Alex's story takes them jetting all around the world, the crew actually only needed two home bases to pull it off, splitting their shoot between the lively streets of New Orleans and the sunny coastline of Catalonia, Spain. So really, you don't need a passport full of stamps to chase down these views, just a decent road trip or a single plane ticket.

Down in New Orleans, the director was determined to capture the city's real, authentic energy, so they filmed right in the thick of the French Quarter. I could almost taste those beignets! You can stroll down Bourbon Street or Frenchmen Street just like the characters do, or swing by Bamboula's jazz bar, which is actually where they shot that fun, spirited dance scene. To pull off the leafy, laid back feel of Alex's small Ohio hometown, the crew leaned on Audubon Park and those gorgeous Garden District houses, though apparently locals can spot it's really New Orleans right away thanks to those famously uneven sidewalks. They even dressed up Tulane University to stand in for Boston College during those sweet flashback scenes early in the film.

If you're looking to watch it yourself, you'll find it streaming exclusively on Netflix, where it dropped worldwide early this year. Since Sony's 3000 Pictures made this one specifically for streaming, there was never a theatrical release to speak of. Instead, its success got measured purely in clicks and views, and boy did it deliver, debuting as the number one movie on the entire platform and racking up 17.2 million views that very first weekend. Critics and regular viewers alike have been pretty warm toward this one too, it's sitting at a solid 79% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, with audiences right there alongside them at 78%. The reviews keep circling back to the same point, that Emily Bader and Tom Blyth have this natural, sparking chemistry together, and that the whole film feels like a cozy nod to those old school friends to lovers stories while still staying true to Henry's book.

Speaking of Tom and Emily, let's talk about who's actually carrying all this, because the two leads matter a whole lot in a movie like this. Alex is played by Tom Blyth, who you'll probably recognize as the young Coriolanus Snow in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. Poppy is played by Emily Bader, who folks might know from the show My Lady Jane. Bader is actually a California girl like me, born and raised in Temecula, a few miles from where I grew up in Escondido. This was her first real leading movie role, and by most accounts the two of them hit it off fast, doing their first chemistry read together over video call before ever meeting in person, and that easy rapport really does show up on screen.

For me though, I wanted the timeline to hold together and I wanted to laugh a little harder. This one is worth a watch if you're in the mood for something gentle, but if you're chasing that full package of heart, clarity, and real belly laughs, it doesn't quite land it.



Sandi Jerome is a screenwriter, author, and former technology company founder whose diverse background as a UCLA Advanced Screenwriting graduate, former CPA, and novelist shapes her insightful analysis of book-to-screen adaptations. She is a frequent contributor to Thursday Review.

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