A Cozy Rom-Com and a Case for Bringing Back Yearning

People We Meet on Vacation is, at its core, exactly what a modern rom-com should be. It is colorful, cringey in the best way, deeply wholesome, and genuinely comforting. I had a really lovely time watching it. It is the kind of movie that invites you to settle in, soften a little, and believe, if only for a couple of hours, in the inevitability of two people finding their way back to each other.

Emily Bader is, without question, the heart of the film. She is a perfect Poppy. From the moment she appears onscreen, she feels completely alive. Bader fully embodies the version of Poppy readers know and love: vibrant, restless, emotionally open, and searching. Her performance never feels exaggerated or performative. She is funny, sincere, and deeply present in every scene. Watching her, it genuinely feels like she understands Poppy from the inside out, and it is easily my favorite performance in the film.

Tom Blyth is an actor I was incredibly excited to see step into the role of Alex Nilsen. He is undeniably talented, and there are flashes of that depth here, but the film does not always give him enough room to show it. Many of the elements that give Alex his emotional weight in Emily Henry’s novel are internal, rooted in anxiety, responsibility, and a quiet fear of wanting too much. The film trims several of those plot lines, leaving Alex feeling more surface-level than he does on the page. As a result, his emotional arc sometimes feels less fully articulated.

This becomes most noticeable in the balance of the central romance. At times, it can feel as though Poppy loves Alex more than he loves her, not because that is true, but because the film does not always allow us into Alex’s inner world. As a book reader, it is easy to fill in those gaps. You know how deeply he cares, and why he hesitates. For viewers who have not read the novel, Poppy’s final decision, particularly her willingness to give up her dream job to choose Alex, may feel sudden or even a little unfair. The emotional logic is there, but it is quieter than it should be.

Structurally, the film follows the same framework as the book, tracking Alex and Poppy across twelve years of shared vacations after meeting in college and striking a pact to travel together every summer as platonic best friends. The story jumps back and forth in time, gradually revealing what went wrong on their final trip to Tuscany two years earlier and why they stopped speaking altogether. In the present day, Poppy impulsively books a trip to Barcelona to attend Alex’s brother’s wedding, hoping it might be her last chance to repair their friendship.

As expected, the film condenses the number of vacations we see, combining or relocating major emotional beats. Croatia becomes Tuscany. Palm Springs becomes Barcelona. These changes make sense for a feature-length film, though there are moments where the story feels like it is brushing up against the limits of the format. It is hard not to imagine how beautifully this could have unfolded as a limited series, with more space to sit inside each trip and each emotional shift.

What the film does beautifully is atmosphere. The cinematography is warm, inviting, and unapologetically colorful. In an era where so much contemporary cinema feels muted and desaturated, People We Meet on Vacation embraces color in a way that feels joyful and intentional. Each location feels like a memory you want to step back into, enhancing the film’s sense of nostalgia and comfort.

When the movie leans fully into romance, it truly shines. The final act is earnest, sincere, and unafraid of classic rom-com gestures. Poppy running through the street to catch Alex is exactly the kind of emotional commitment the genre thrives on. It is cheesy, heartfelt, and completely effective. When she tells him, “You’re not a vacation to me. You’re home,” it lands because the film understands the power of saying the quiet thing out loud.

Ultimately, People We Meet on Vacation may not capture every layer of emotional depth from Emily Henry’s novel, but it succeeds in something just as important. It reminds us how satisfying it is to watch two people yearn for each other. To hesitate. To circle the truth for years before finally choosing it. In a media landscape that often rushes romance or treats it as secondary, this film is a gentle argument for slowing down and letting desire breathe.

I really enjoyed this movie. It is a comforting, charming rom-com that knows exactly what it wants to be. And perhaps most importantly, it proves that audiences are still hungry for yearning, for romance that takes its time, and for love stories that are allowed to feel big, sincere, and a little bit embarrassing.

Bring back yearning.