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Alright, let’s rip off the Band-Aid and talk about the People We Meet on Vacation film adaptation. Speaking as both an Emily Henry megafan and an entertainment journalist, I feel more than ready to unpack the one major misstep that stopped this from being an absolute winner.
But first — the positives. The cast of People We Meet on Vacation does a genuinely terrific job. With big names like Emily Bader, Tom Blyth, Jameela Jamil, Sarah Catherine Hook and more, the star-studded lineup delivers exactly what you’d hope for. The screenplay, developed with input from Henry herself, successfully translates much of the novel’s charm to screen, while the stunning filming locations add a glossy, escapist polish. Also, the PWMOV soundtrack was phenomenal — Paula Abdul dance scene included.
We're ready to meet Alex and Poppy.
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If you’re looking for a fun Friday night watch, you really can’t go wrong with People We Meet on Vacation. That said, as someone who revisits the novel religiously, year after year, it’s hard to ignore the one creative decision that set off a domino effect — and ultimately held the film back from greatness.
So… let’s dig in.
It became my favourite novel
The first time I read People We Meet on Vacation, I devoured it in a single day. It was during a summer heatwave, alternating between floating in the pool and hiding under an umbrella as I reapplied sunscreen, unable to put the book down. Is there a more fitting way to experience a wanderlust-filled novel like that?
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Over the years, I’ve revisited the book countless times and read every other Emily Henry novel — to the point of marking new releases in my Google Calendar — but People We Meet on Vacation has always stood apart for me.
So when I heard it was being adapted into a film, I was ecstatic… and then quietly apprehensive. It felt a bit like the post-wedding realisation that you’ve already had the best day of your life — which, yes, I appreciate is a slightly unhinged metaphor coming from a single person.
This novel captures something I’ve never quite been able to put into words. It’s not that I’m Poppy specifically (writer, yes; fun, quirky, relentlessly optimistic extrovert, absolutely not). It’s not even that I’m a die-hard friends-to-lovers fan (I prefer a “who did this to you?” growl any day). It’s that the book taps into a feeling deeper than genre, to a low-level, ever-present fear that sneaks in as I'm desperately trying to fall asleep.
So… how did the movie compare?
The biggest mistake in People We Meet on Vacation
Now, I’m not going to be one of those bores who completely trash a film adaptation of a favourite book, for two reasons. First, I want more book-to-screen adaptations. They support authors, introduce brilliant stories to new audiences, and are, frankly, a good old time. Second, I understand that changes are inevitable when you shift mediums. Not every line of dialogue, setting, or internal monologue translates to screen — there are shooting locations, runtime limits, and paid actors to consider.
That said, Netflix made one major mistake — and I feel confident calling it that, because it’s one they’ve successfully avoided in the past.
They chose a film instead of a series.
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Think back to the success of Netflix’s One Day, which allowed us to move across decades with Emma and Dexter. We watched them grow from university students to adults navigating careers, relationships, shared holidays, and missed chances, all across cities and countries. The format gave their history room to breathe.
At first glance, One Day and People We Meet on Vacation might not seem particularly connected beyond romance, but structurally, they share a lot. Both hinge on relationships shaped by years of shared history, emotional proximity, and the way place intertwines with memory.
The mistake of People We Meet on Vacation is that it needed to be a series. I knew it before release — and I know it even more now.
Each episode should have centred on a present-day trip (Palm Springs or Barcelona — I’m willing to compromise there), paired with a past vacation. That structure would’ve allowed each trip to stand on its own, giving space for the lessons, emotional growth, and subtle shifts that deepen Poppy and Alex’s bond. It also would’ve given us the cinematic payoff of truly soaking in each location, rather than rushing through them.
And this single misstep? It feeds into every other issue the film struggles with.
The Emily Henry hit is getting the Netflix treatment.
The film sacrificed Alex Nilsen
At its core, People We Meet on Vacation captures a very specific fear: the terror of someone truly seeing who you are — because once they do, they can decide to leave.
The film leans more explicitly into this from Poppy’s side. We hear her articulate the fear of being “too much” for Alex, or for any man in her life. But what’s missing is the same emotional depth from Alex’s perspective. We lose the man who tells her, “Sometimes it feels like I didn’t even exist before that. Like you invented me.”
Let me be clear: Tom Blyth is phenomenal as Alex. But the adaptation strips away crucial layers of his inner world. We don’t fully explore the loss of his mother — who died in childbirth — and how that trauma shapes his fear around Poppy’s pregnancy scare. We never learn about his vasectomy, or how that decision feeds into his breakup with Sarah. These details may seem small on paper, but they’re foundational to understanding Alex’s emotional paralysis and the invisible wall between him and Poppy.
While it makes sense, budget-wise, to merge the Tuscany pregnancy scare with the Croatia kiss (now reduced to an almost-kiss), that choice ultimately damages Alex’s character. Having him propose to his girlfriend the very next day feels less like raised stakes and more like a betrayal of who he is. I understand the impulse — tension needs escalation — but not at the cost of character integrity.
And yes, I’ll say it: I miss Alex looking at Poppy’s Tinder profile and quietly saying, “I would.” Swoon.
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A travel film with little travel
People We Meet on Vacation is a book for anyone with wanderlust running through their veins — even if the travel writer at its centre has temporarily lost her love for travel. The film, unfortunately, includes travel but doesn’t centre it.
We only see three of their trips — Canada, New Orleans, and Tuscany — not including the present-day Barcelona wedding. Croatia is entirely lost, merged into the Tuscany storyline.
Of the locations, only New Orleans truly comes alive, complete with obligatory scenes of the couple strolling Bourbon Street, eating beignets, and dancing at a dive bar.
In the present day, Poppy and Alex reconnect in an upscale Airbnb in Barcelona, yet we barely get a sense of the city itself. No tapas, no sangria, just the Airbnb and a wedding set that feels like a soundstage.
Additionally, Nashville, San Francisco, Colorado and Croatia are entirely absent, robbing the story of the rich sense of place that made the novel so immersive.
It includes some real bangers.
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Love doesn't fix all
I know, I know — it’s a romance novel, and clearly I just haven’t found the right person, yada yada. But one thing I, and many others, have always adored about Henry’s novels is that love is never presented as a cure-all. In the book, Alex doesn’t want Poppy to use him to fill the gaps in her life, and she doesn’t expect him to drop everything for her.
She leaves her job, yes, but she also writes a column about meeting people in the city, realizing that her love of travel is really a love of connecting with others. They try living in each other’s worlds before making any life-altering decisions.
The film shows her leaving her job, but little else. Many assume Alex is reading her novel in the final minutes on the beach, but this hasn't been confirmed. Their apartment is coded as “anywhere in New York,” suggesting he simply moved in with her, despite his strong ties to his hometown.
A limited series would have allowed the writers and actors to explore all the nuances of their relationship, rather than reducing it to a story about opposites attracting. It could even have included Poppy’s time in therapy, which was discussed in the book.
That said, let me be clear: this is still a fun, sweet movie. It’s the first Emily Henry adaptation, and I can’t wait for more. If it exists independently of the book, I’d happily watch it as a new romcom. But if we’re comparing it to the novel… People We Meet on Vacation absolutely needed to be a limited series. Sigh.
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