People We Meet on Vacation: A Travel-Forward Rom-Com Movie Night In
On January 9, People We Meet on Vacation dropped on Netflix. It was a Friday, and in our house, Friday night is movie night—so we watched it the day it premiered.
The novel behind the new Netflix movie.I loved the book, but my expectations for the movie were fairly low.
It wasn’t released in theaters. I hadn’t heard of the lead actors before. Tom Blyth plays Alex, and Emily Bader plays Poppy. While I adore classic rom-coms like When Harry Met Sally, Bridget Jones’s Diary, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding, those belong to a different era of my life. I still enjoy them, sometimes for nostalgic reasons, but I wasn’t sure how this one would land.
Could Chris and I enjoy it together?
I offered to watch it on my own. The movie is very travel-forward, and since I reviewed Emily Henry’s book, I wanted to watch it and review it right away. Chris suggested we watch it together. He enjoys the occasional rom-com, and we had such a great time watching Bridget Jones’s Diary together: me revisiting it, him seeing it for the first time. The cringey wonder of that experience still holds up.
First Impressions
The movie is PG-13 and runs just under two hours (1 hour, 57 minutes), but it doesn’t feel long. The pacing is strong, and we laughed far more than I expected.
The meet-cute road trip—clearly inspired by When Harry Met Sally—begins with a drive from Boston College to Linfield, Ohio. Poppy is late, eats her breakfast burrito with joyful abandon, and brings an unpredictable energy to every moment. Alex is punctual, tidy, and views the world through a logical lens.
At one point, Alex suggests music for the drive. Poppy plays Paula Abdul’s Forever Your Girl. Alex objects, insisting the saxophone never improves a song. I’m neutral on sax. Chris is firmly Team Alex.
They are opposites in nearly every way, and that contrast makes their evolving friendship so enjoyable to watch.
Characters, Chemistry, and Standout Moments
We found both Poppy and Alex endearing. We also loved the scenes with Poppy’s parents, played by Molly Shannon and Alan Ruck, especially the hilariously awkward confusion between her dad and Alex about “first times.”
Poppy drops out of school to become a travel writer in Manhattan. Alex continues on to graduate school. On their first trip together, they make a pact: one trip a year, every year, no matter where they are in the world or who they’re with.
The Travel Angle (Very Much Our Thing)
Their first trip together takes them to Squamish, British Columbia, an area we know well. It’s about an hour north of Vancouver, and we hiked The Chief twice while we were there. Film magic fooled us completely. We thought we recognized familiar places, only to learn that those scenes were actually filmed in Spain.
Chris hiking The Chief in Squamish, B.C.Still, the movie made us miss Squamish, Vancouver, and Whistler all over again.
If you’re curious about that hike, here’s our guide:
Hiking the Chief in Squamish, B.C.: What You Need to Know
Other featured locations include Barcelona, Tuscany, New Orleans, Manhattan, a small town in Ohio, and British Columbia. Chris and I have both been to New Orleans, but we’ve never been there together. We love Manhattan, and I even designed a rom-com-inspired trip through New York in the footsteps of Nora Ephron, who wrote When Harry Met Sally. Emily Henry is clearly a fan.
Here’s that post if you’d like to explore it:
Nora Ephron Film Locations for a Romantic NYC Trip
Most of the filming took place in Spain and Louisiana, which deserves credit for creative location work. Either way, watching the movie left us wanting to travel more, which, honestly, is always true.
Final Verdict
We’re glad we watched People We Meet on Vacation together.
Chris gives it a 4 out of 5. I’d rate it about the same. It’s a fun, cozy, and pleasant escape—exactly what we want from a movie-night-in rom-com.
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