January 26, 2026 by Julia Clemmensen (‘29)
As someone who absolutely loved reading the book People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry (published in May of 2021), I had eagerly anticipated watching the movie adaptation directed by Brett Haley which came out January 9 on Netflix. Based on the incredibly loveable story by Emily Henry, actors Emily Bader and Tom Blyth star as the two main characters, Poppy and Alex.
Photo source: DirectTV Insider
People We Meet on Vacation follows Poppy, an optimistic, go-getter, type-B personality, and Alex, a reserved, homebody, type-A personality, who meet after their freshman year of college (The University of Chicago in the book and Boston College in the film), as they carpool home to their mutual small hometown Linfield, Ohio. This extremely long car ride acts as an icebreaker between the two, and they end up making great travel buddies, later promising to vacation together every summer as friends. Poppy and Alex end up following through with their plans all throughout the book and movie, as the timeline of both versions toggle between past vacations and a present-day perspective of Poppy’s life.
Both the book and movie are built on the same central plot, however small details and experiences Poppy and Alex share ended up being rather different in the movie. There were a few locations that were different in the movie as opposed to the book, including a detour the duo took after they carpooled in the beginning of the story, and Alex’s brother David’s wedding, which was set in California in the book, but Spain in the movie. Even with these slight changes, the movie still did a wonderful job switching back and forth between their vacations and present day. It was very clearly presented and not confusing at all, especially for those who haven’t read the book before.
Photo source: Harpers Bazaar
Without spoiling anything from the movie or even the book, I do have to say I wished the movie highlighted the connection between Alex’s trauma response to a family member’s death to what had happened to Poppy on one of their vacations. This addition added a lot of depth to Alex’s character in the book, and would’ve been a very nice detail and character development to see in the movie. On a similar note, overall, I do think the movie could have taken more time to explore Poppy and Alex’s friends to lovers relationship and their conflicts, as it felt a little bit rushed. In contrast though, if everything in the book was to be included in the movie, it would end up being multiple hours long, and I don’t think the producers or viewers would have loved that.
Comparing the movie adaptation of any book is natural, so aside from giving or taking some details, the movie was still super fresh and fun for any romcom lover. I would totally recommend it to anyone who loves Emily Henry, or who have read People We Meet on Vacation; but more importantly than that, I would recommend it to people who are not familiar at all with the story, because I think they would still appreciate it.