Aahana Swrup
Directed by Brett Haley, ‘People We Meet on Vacation’ is a romantic comedy film in which two polar opposites form an unexpected connection, one vacation at a time. Despite growing up in the same hometown, Poppy Wright and Alex Nilsen only cross paths in college, where a road trip turns into a lifelong friendship. While the former is a chaotic writer in love with traveling, the latter is a total type-A, who dreams of stability and comfort. Despite their strikingly contrasting personalities, the two become their best selves while exploring new places together, away from their regular lives.
As a result, Poppy and Alex make a pact to take a vacation together every year, come hell or high water. However, this promise is inevitably broken a decade later, when one summer trip ends in a disaster. Even so, after two years of radio silence, one unexpected trip might just bring the two best friends back together, this time for the better. The Netflix film is rooted in the mundane, exploring a story of authentic human connection through an ever-changing backdrop of fascinating places.
People We Meet on Vacation Brings an Emily Henry Novel to Life
‘People We Meet on Vacation’ charts a realistic love story about two best friends and their riveting annual trips to new and exciting destinations. The story, though entirely fictional, sports a literary connection to a beloved eponymous romance novel by author Emily Henry. First published in 2021, the New-York Times Bestseller charts a narrative about Poppy and Alex, best friends and designated annual travel companions, who manage to have the perfect friendship despite their glaring dissimilarities. That is, until one misstep ruins everything, leaving Poppy with one final week-long vacation to fix the rift that has opened up between them. The Brett Haley directorial, with a screenplay by Yulin Kuang, Amos Vernon, and Nunzio Randazzo, adapts Henry’s novel, bringing the story of Alex and Poppy to the screen.
Although Henry wasn’t directly involved in the making of the film, reports suggest she was in conversations with Haley and the screenwriters prior to the production. Furthermore, she even visited the set once and gave her blessings to actors Emily Bader and Tom Blyth, who step into the roles of on-screen Poppy and Alex. Bade told People about the same. She shared, “She basically showed up and said, ‘I’m happy with this decision. You guys are them. Have fun. Be yourself. “I think that is such an amazing thing to have. It’s like a gift from the originator of the characters.” For the most part, Haley’s adaptation remains authentic to the attributes and quirks of the characters, making them feel fully fleshed out. Even so, given the difference in media, the film naturally sports a few divergences from its bookish counterpart.
It is most notably evident in some of the vacation destinations employed by the protagonists in the film, which differ from Poppy and Alex’s adventures in the book. For instance, the climactic vacation the duo undertakes in the book takes place in Palm Springs, California. Inversely, in the film, this location has been changed to Barcelona, Spain. In an interview with Netflix, Henry shed light on the same, saying, “There are a couple of differences between the book and the movie that I’m really excited for the readers to see. We’ve moved a lot of the book from Palm Springs to Barcelona, so there’s some fun new set dressing that they haven’t already experienced. But more than that, I think it’s these added scenes that were used to do, like a truncated version of stuff that happens in the book.”
People We Meet on Vacation Finds Grounded Authenticity Through Its Characters
Despite being driven by a fictional narrative, ‘People We Meet on Vacation’ possesses a sense of realism and authenticity that makes the story relatable and resonant with wider audiences. This is partially possible due to the familiarity lacing the story, the characters, and their relationships. By and large, the film, much like the source material, operates as a friends-to-lovers slow-burning narrative. Even though the tale never relies on archetypes and tired tropes, its ability to neatly fit into well-known and well-loved sub-genres allows for a sense of familiarity.
As a result, the modern-day rom-com is able to evoke similar feelings and emotions as some of the genre’s classics. For instance, the film, and notably its lead actress, Emily Bader, has garnered many good-faith comparisons to the rom-com Hall of Fame title ‘When Harry Met Sally,’ starring Meg Ryan. In a conversation with People, Bader said, “I’m such a big fan of rom-coms. I think there’s elements that I miss about some of the early 2000s, ’90s rom-com genre, and I felt like this had a little bit of that. There’s something grounded about these two characters’ slice of life. It was exciting to get to read that.”
Although the novel itself is a work of fiction, Henry imbues the story with realistic elements through nuanced characters, emotional depth, and thematic relevance. The author’s everyday experiences, relationships, and ideas likely shape the central characters and their storyline. Whether it’s Poppy’s wild, youngest-child tendencies or Alex’s love for itineraries, it is likely that the author’s personality inevitably bleeds into her characters. Ultimately, this realistic foundation enables ‘People We Meet On Vacation’ to feel authentic, despite having no basis in real life.
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