Cute chemistry can only get you so far, as Netflix's adaptation of People We Meet on Vacation shows. The rom-com stars Emily Bader and Hunger Games star Tom Blyth in the lead roles, and they are the biggest highlight.
People We Meet on Vacation is an adaptation of Emily Henry's 2021 book of the same name. People We Meet on Vacation follows the friendship of Poppy (Emily Bader) and Alex (Tom Blyth) over nearly a decade as they embark on their annual trips.
Directed by Brett Haley and written by Yulin Kuang, Amos Vernon, and Nunzio Randazzo, People We Meet on Vacation is a nonlinear story that is at its best when the characters' relationship is budding. However, it's a little long in the tooth and features an unremarkable ensemble, with the exception of SNL alum Molly Shannon.
In the streaming age, it's pertinent that movies do something to differentiate themselves from the competition. Netflix has an excess of titles, and People We Meet on Vacation feels bound to fail to make any noise outside of fans of the book.
People We Meet on Vacation review: What's it about?
While still attending Boston College, Poppy and Alex meet by chance as they carpool back to their small hometown of Linfield, Ohio.
What could go wrong for them does go wrong, from hitting rush-hour traffic to locking themselves out of their car. Poppy and Alex don't get off on the right foot. Even though they spend the night together in a hotel, they are completely platonic friends.
From the get-go, Poppy is a free-spirited individual, while Alex still needs to find his “vacation” self, as he is dating his high-school sweetheart and heading towards a safe adulthood.
Over the years, they have dated different people and moved apart from each other, but the one constant is their yearly vacations. Despite being platonic, there are clearly feelings brewing between them.
It comes to a head when Poppy — a travel journalist — is invited to Alex's brother's (played by 13 Reasons star Miles Heizer) wedding in Barcelona, Spain. She knows she is going to see Alex for the first time since their falling out two years earlier.
The nonlinear storytelling is the best and worst part of the movie
Similar to its source material, People We Meet on Vacation is a nonlinear story. It jumps between the present day and then each of Poppy and Alex's vacations.
The past is where the strength of the movie is. Poppy and Alex are total opposites when they first meet — in their first conversation, Poppy reveals her disdain towards her hometown, while Alex wants to live there forever — but their first drive together is the best part of the movie.
This is, by far, the most expansive of the flashbacks. Some of the other vacations are about five or 10 minutes long before jumping back to the present day.
Haley allows their first drive and conversations to simmer. What begins as an uneasy encounter, as Poppy is an hour late than their agreed-upon departure time, becomes a blossoming friendship, and it's believable because of the actors' performances.
Bader beautifully toes the line of Poppy's somewhat ditzy but ambitious tendencies, and Blyth is charming as Alex. Blyth's hard exterior begins to crack over the course of their first flashback. Their chemistry radiates through the screen, and it evolves with every passing flashback.
The script completely fails the actors in the present day, often coming off as conventionally hokey with their interactions at the Barcelona wedding. However, the trio of writers was in a groove when it came to the flashbacks.
The vacations
Every vacation is unique, as are their experiences. The New Orleans trip is also notable, and that's when their relationship is at its peak. From acting as a married couple to its abrupt end — due to her controlling boyfriend's abrupt appearance — it's a hoot.
People We Meet on Vacation would have benefitted even more from a greater exploration of Poppy and Alex's growth in between their vacations. Usually, Poppy is with a different guy while Alex is back with his on-and-off-again girlfriend, Sarah (Sarah Catherine Hook.
However, why every one of Poppy's relationships falls apart, and Alex keeps going back to Sarah, doesn't get explored much. The answers are obvious, but leaving most of this up to the imagination makes you, the viewer, feel like you're catching up with old friends as Poppy and Alex are every time they see each other.
Perhaps that's the effect the writers were going for. It's more likely that the two-hour movie was unable to squeeze the 400 pages ‘ worth of story that is in the dense book.
Should you watch People We Meet on Vacation?
At its core, People We Meet on Vacation is borderline required viewing for young adults. It's a movie about discovering who you really are and what you want out of life.
Bader and Blyth have the necessary chemistry that makes them a shippable couple, despite the script's occasional efforts to make them corny.
People We Meet on Vacation is worth the trip to watch the journey of its main characters, but it's noticeably stronger in one timeline than another.
The script is filled with ideas, and the focus should have been placed even more on the past. When People We Meet on Vacation steps into the present, it falters. It excels when it shows the evolution of Bader and Blyth's on-screen relationship.
Grade: C+
People We Meet on Vacation is streaming on Netflix.
