In a pop-culture moment dominated by morally grey fictional men and internet-fuelled obsessions, finding a genuinely good rom-com has started to feel oddly elusive. Perhaps that is why creators have turned to books for inspiration. As Ana Huang’s Twisted series is set for an adaptation, BookTok’s favorites like The Idea of You or the infamous The Summer I Turned Pretty have been gracing the screen one after another. And not one to stay out of the race, Netflix has also thrown its hat into the adaptation ring.

That said, book adaptations have never been Netflix’s forte. Whether it is The Witcher backlash or tweaking Bridgerton’s real plot or the recent The Oxford Year falling flat on its face, the track record has been uneven at best. But with Emily Henry’s People We Meet On Vacation being adapted by the streamer, things seem to be looking up.

So the question remains: is People We Meet on Vacation a hit — or one more missed connection? We call it a hit, but here is why.

With Netflix’s recent track record, expecting a good book adaptation was something we did not expect, but People We Meet on Vacation rightly changed our views. One of the most promising things about the movie is how the adaptation honours the heart of Emily Henry’s bestselling novel even while introducing fresh moments and dialogue that feel made for the screen. 

Henry herself shared on her Instagram how she breathed a huge sigh of relief after watching the film’s first cut, confident that readers would be in love as she is — a rare and telling endorsement from the author herself. While major events in Poppy and Alex’s life occurred in Barcelona in the film, rather than in Palm Springs as originally depicted in the book, it did not feel out of place.

The chemistry between Emily Bader’s free-spirited Poppy and Tom Blyth’s grounded, Anders-like Alex is playful, magnetic energy, keeps you giggling and giddy from beach to boardwalk in classic rom-com fashion. Director Brett Haley’s vision was to capture the same warmth and emotional cadence that made the book a comfort read, blending laughter with real vulnerability so that viewers end up throwing their legs in the air in joy at just the right moments. 

“I don’t think I knew I was lonely until I met you.” This tender line from Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation epitomises the emotional charge at the heart of the book, and it's exactly that kind of slow-burn connection that the cast of Tom Blyth (Alex) and Emily Bader (Poppy) bring to life on screen. 

Emily Henry’s book is rooted in the timeless friends-to-lovers and opposites-attract romance tropes that make us swoon. In People We Meet on Vacation, that same contrast, Poppy’s spirited wanderlust and Alex’s grounded stability, plays out across a decade of shared summers and unspoken longing, giving readers a slow-burn arc packed with witty banter and heartfelt moments.

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On screen, Emily Bader and Tom Blyth capture that chemistry with a natural ease that makes the trope feel fresh. Their playful clashes and warm camaraderie mirror the book’s charm: Poppy pulling Alex out of his comfort zone and helping him embrace Vacation Alex, Alex giving Poppy a sense of steadiness, or Poppy finally running in her life to let Alex know of her feelings, just as the novel describes their deepening bond over repeated vacations. 

While Netflix always wants to bring content onto its platform ASAP, with People We Meet on Vacation, we would have loved a theatrical release to witness Alex and Poppy’s first-hand chemistry. 

From the very start of People We Meet on Vacation, it is clear that vacation is not just fun for Poppy; it is survival. In the book, flashbacks reveal how she was bullied growing up in Linfield, Ohio, and how that early hurt made her equate “staying put” with being too much for the world, someone vulnerable, visible, and ultimately rejected. This undercurrent of fear winds through her decisions, shaping her desire to keep moving, exploring, and never staying in one place long enough to be known completely. 

On screen, this emotional arc carries the same beat: Poppy’s urge to travel is not about rest or escape; it is about avoiding stagnation and the ghosts of her past. But as the narrative unfolds, through sun-drenched beaches and laughter-filled dinners, each trip becomes less about running away and more about discovering where she belongs.

By the film’s end, the idea of home is not a place she flees from anymore; it is the shared sunset beside Alex, the person who taught her that permanence can be beautiful, warm, and deeply chosen, even within the tradition of vacations. 

People We Meet on Vacation opens with Poppy alone on the beach, her laughter blending with the waves as she admits, in both spirit and silhouette, how travel has become a bittersweet refuge for her where she feels nothing but loneliness. This solitary scene sets the emotional heartbeat of the film, illustrating that missing someone can feel like watching the horizon without colour, beautiful, but incomplete. 

Visually and thematically, the movie leans into hues that feel lifted straight from the book cover's aesthetic: warm orangish-yellow tones reminiscent of a sunset suspended between day and night. These colours, echoing the soft glow seen across fan art and cover aesthetics online, are not just beach backdrops; they symbolise transition, from unresolved silence to belonging. 

By the end, that same shore becomes a full circle: Poppy is not just framed by sand and sea, she is sitting beside her love, the colours of sunset lingering to say how love is not just an emotion — but a landscape you will always return to. 

In a landscape crowded with predictable romantic comedies and hit-or-miss book adaptations, People We Meet on Vacation stands out as a rare win. What could have been just another beach-set love story becomes a warm, layered experience. By weaving heartfelt character arcs, playful banter, and scenic wanderlust into a cohesive whole, this adaptation delivers on the emotional promise of its source material while carving its own place in the rom-com canon.

Whether you came for the story, the locales, or the chemistry, People We Meet on Vacation leaves you with that gentle glow that only the best romantic films can — a sense that love can arrive slowly, quietly, and at exactly the right moment.

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Do you think Netflix has done justice to Emily Henry's People We Meet on Vacation? Let us know in the comments below.