People We Meet on Vacation (review)

Published by Mason Oldridge, 26 January 2026

Among a January full of strong releases on Netflix is this new romcom film.

Polar opposite friends Poppy and Alex are attending the wedding of Alex’s brother, but their friendship is fractured. They previously went on vacation every summer together, which are told in a series of flashbacks, until something happened to end the tradition.

It is revealed that Poppy tried to kiss Alex when they were both in relationships and, when Alex became engaged to his girlfriend, Poppy accused him of settling, prompting Alex to end their annual vacations. It is clear that Poppy’s actions were because she is in love with him and Alex’s relationship later broke down because he is also in love with her.

The first flashback is nine years ago when Alex gave Poppy a ride home as they were both at the same college and both lived in the same hometown, though this is not made clear as we just see Poppy turn up at his car. The road trip sees an uptight Alex become annoyed at Poppy’s free-spirited personality, though they grow close after a heart-to-heart and this flashback serves to be an important one.

The subsequent flashbacks of vacations are full of sweet moments that see the duo better each other’s lives as Poppy encourages Alex to come out of his shell and enjoy himself more and Alex is very caring towards Poppy.

The film delivers a predictable but worthy happy ending as Poppy finally realises what she wants and the two become a couple.

Also, casting proves to be successful as the chemistry is felt between the two leads.

The film is definitely more rom than com but there is a particularly funny moment in which Alex has a misunderstood conversation with Poppy’s father, with one talking about flying and the other talking about sex.

Although nothing groundbreaking, the film provides a nice easy watch with a rather cute story.

7/10