A Rom-Com Revival

The Movie Adaptation of Emily Henry’s Bestselling Novel “People We Meet On Vacation” Was Released On Netflix

Photo by Kaur Martin on Unsplash

The New York Times Bestselling Author, Emily Henry, saw the release of her first book-to-movie adaptation on Jan. 9, 2026. Dubbed “the queen of rom-coms” by The New York Times, Henry has quickly accumulated a large fan base for her summer romance books. Authoring  six extremely popular novels, it was no surprise when one was picked up by a production company, with the other five following  suit. 

“People We Meet On Vacation” follows best friends Poppy and Alex and their annual one-week summer vacation. The movie is shown through a past and present timeline, displaying Poppy and Alex’s current summer in Barcelona along with their past trips which reveal key information along the way. Though seemingly opposites, with Poppy’s happy-go-lucky demeanor and Alex’s serious one, the two become steady best friends after meeting in college. The pair goes on nine years of vacations together until a rift happens, leading them to not speak until present day. When we see the two in the present for the first time, Poppy is working as a writer for a Travel Magazine, and Alex is a teacher. Poppy receives a call from Alex’s brother , asking her to come to his wedding in Barcelona. She then reluctantly agrees, realizing she will have to see Alex after years apart. The two work through their issues in Spain, including what occurred their final summer, and eventually end confessing their long-harbored love for one another. 

Emily Badger and Tom Blythe (Poppy and Alex respectively) played their roles as romantic leads well. Blythe’s previous role as Coriolanus Snow from “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” drew people to this new project because of his captivating performance, and he is scheduled to have two upcoming movies. Emily Badger, star of Prime original “My Lady Jane,” was not unused to a romantic setting, displayed by her work throughout the film. 

While following relatively close to the original novel, there are some slight differences. Alex’s brother’s wedding originally takes place in Palm Springs, California. However, due to filming costs, production decided to film the wedding in Barcelona. In the film, there are very few moments dedicated to the audience’s learning about Poppy’s past, only knowing that she was bullied in high school due to false rumors. In the books, Poppy experiences much more annihilation from her peers due to her eccentric family, which fuels her disdain for her hometown. This change leads the audience to view Poppy as slightly irritating, as she has less sympathetic elements.  At the end of the movie, Poppy and Alex confess their emotions to first each other in a dramatic rain scene after she finally chased him down, simply because of their own revelation. The novel depicts therapy scenes, allowing the two to fully process their complicated feelings before a confession.

The movie itself is bringing forth what people are referring to as a “revival” of the early 2000’s era romantic comedies. The style, characters and tropes all call back to elements of those classic comfort movies, with people speculating that the film has sparked a resurgence of chick-flicks, due to its increasing levels of popularity. 

<Star Ratings>

Romance- ★★★★★

Plot- ★★★★★

Acting- ★★★★★

Characters- ★★★★★