PG-13 | 1h 57m | Comedy, Romance, Drama | 2026

The single most divisive genre in movies is the light comedy. Most people either love them or hate them. I don’t like most of them—not so much because of execution but, rather, because of content. They look all light and breezy. In reality, they’re the most difficult to make well. Very few of them are any good.

Director Brett Haley knows. For my money, he has made some of the best light comedies of the last decade or so: “I’ll See You in My Dreams” (2015), “The Hero” (2017), and “Hearts Beat Loud” (2018). These are interesting and unique because they all buck the expected norm of the genre.

Based on the 2021 book of the same name by Emily Henry, “People We Meet on Vacation” (“People”) fits squarely into the light romantic comedy box but separates itself from the rest of the pack in a number of pleasing ways.

Original It Is Not

All things considered, “People” isn’t great, but it’s far from bad. Its biggest fault is that it is predictable. You know how it’s going to end within the first five minutes. This is easy to overlook as it makes some unexpected and welcomed detours along the way, and often zigs when you think it will zag.

See if this sounds familiar. Alex (Tom Blyth, “Billy the Kid”) is ridesharing with Poppy (Emily Bader, “My Lady Jane”) from Boston to Ohio. Both attend the same college, are from the same fictional small town, and get along like oil and water. She’s brimming with curiosity and wanderlust, and he prefers stability and normalcy.

They dislike each other’s taste in … well, everything—which, of course, means they’re crazy about each other. But it will take over a decade for them to finally get on the same page. Like Harry and Sally after meeting, they settle into an affectionate platonic friendship, but it’s clear from the get-go that each of them wants more.

Nonlinear

Haley and the three (two too many) screenwriters stick relatively close to the source material while altering just a few incidental details. Fans of the book will notice but likely won’t mind.

What I liked most about the narrative was its nonlinear presentation. Going from point A to V to G to M, then D to T, and eventually to Z was refreshing and kept me on my toes.

Blyth was good as Alex and did as well as a vanilla-flavored male lead character could. Alex isn’t deep or complicated, but Blyth manages to make him interesting and not cookie-cutter stock.

Multi-Neapolitan

Bader, on the other hand, is 16 different variants of Neapolitan. She’s a slim brunette with big, bold, warm, and expressive brown eyes and recalls 1990s-era Marisa Tomei, Mia Sara (“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”), and mostly Jamie-Lynn Sigler (Meadow in “The Sopranos”).

By not portraying Poppy as a curvy, blond, blue-eyed, unattainable stereotype, the filmmakers (and Henry) lend the character an approachable vulnerability, something that makes her immanently relatable to the masses.

Same Time Next Year

Another past romantic comedy that “People” pays homage to is the little-known “Same Time Next Year” from 1978. It stars Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn playing characters who meet just once annually since they both are married to others.

Thankfully, neither Poppy nor Alex is married to anyone, which saves the movie from flirting with morally questionable content. However, the impetuousness of the 1978 movie mirrors the principal plot of “People.”

The one facet of the movie that’s most appealing is the two leads following their desired life paths apart from each other. Poppy chooses a career as a travel writer based in New York while Alex stays firmly rooted in Ohio.

Free Rides and More

They pledge to reunite every summer. Thanks to Poppy’s job, they travel cost-free to locales including New Orleans, Tuscany, Napa Valley, Barcelona, and not quite Norway. The further the pair move through their lives, the more obvious it becomes that they are destined for each other.

This facet of the story borrows more than a bit from the 2020 comedy fantasy “Palm Springs,” itself a riff on “Groundhog Day.”

Again, far from original, “People” skates by on the undeniable charm provided by Bader and the shameless referencing of past movies of the same ilk.

Compared to most movies released in the usual creatively bereft first two months of every year, “People” is quite agreeable. In this annual clearinghouse, dumping-ground time of year, that’s high praise indeed.

The movie is now streaming on Netflix.

‘People We Meet on Vacation’
Director: Brett Haley
Stars: Emily Bader, Tom Blyth, Sarah Catherine Hook, Jameela Jamil
Running Time: 1 hour, 57 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Release Date: Jan. 9, 2026
Rating: 3 stars out of 5

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