“10 Things I Hate About You” (1999), “When Harry Met Sally” (1989), and “You’ve Got Mail” (1998) are just a few of the most influential romantic comedies (rom-com) in pop culture. Rom-coms are a genre beloved by movie-watchers of all ages for their comedic aspects with a typically PG romance.
One of the most recent additions to this genre, “People We Meet on Vacation” (2026), directed by Brett Haley, is a book-to-movie adaptation of People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry. However, this film tends to fall short on many of the hailed aspects that make a good rom-com.
“People We Meet on Vacation” (2026) follows Poppy (Emily Bader), a journalist who blogs about her exotic vacations, and her best friend Alex (Tom Blythe) as they attend his brother’s wedding in Barcelona. The film follows a nonlinear format, as audiences watch the two separate stories unfold: the present-time period on the pair’s trip to Barcelona and nine-years in the past showing the story of their rocky relationship history. Poppy and Alex have had a history of romantic attention that had yet to be acted upon before the trip to Barcelona, but when Alex breaks up with his girlfriend, Sarah (Sarah Catherine Hook), Poppy jumps at the opportunity to spend more time with Alex on their vacation.
Coming off of “A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” (2023), I was very excited to see how Blythe would bring the character of Alex to life. Blythe’s performance skillfully adds hilarity, alongside Bader’s performance as Poppy, and a layer of emotion that deepens heavier scenes within the film. Bader did not miss a beat as Poppy, constantly delivering on funnier scenes without coming off as too much or extra. The pair had excellent chemistry, both during their friendship and developing romantic relationship, and truly delivered on the vibe of a rom-com.
A major downside to this film, which affects both the visual and emotional aspects of the plot, comes down to the camera work. It’s shot in a wide format despite non-important and uninteresting scenery and a lack of close-ups on tumultuous and important scenes. Both Blythe and Bader had excellent facial expressions that could be missed by the casual viewer with the lack of artistry in the camera movements.
Despite the main cast’s very vivid and skilled deliveries, the script ultimately fell flat for me. Characters, other than Poppy and Alex, felt stagnant and one-dimensional, despite many opportunities for moments that could have been fleshed out and developed.
The glaring missteps within the movie do hinder the experience while watching, but it’s undeniable that the actors’ performances, albeit who were working with a lackluster script, gave the film more depth and delivered a more entertaining experience.
Overall, Blythe, Bader, and Hook’s performances were the highlight of this film, and it was upsetting to see them presented with such a poor script. “People We Meet on Vacation,” was a 3 out of 5 stars for how flat the experience felt.
