Claire Ferrante

10 years of vacations, 2 best friends, and one week of fun all unfolds through the friends to lovers story, “People We Meet On Vacation”. The movie is an adaptation of the novel “People We Meet On Vacation” written by Emily Henry. The story follows two main characters, Poppy, the energetic extrovert, and Alex, the home-body introvert who meet through a shared friend but, through their first road-trip, eventually grow closer to each other. They decide to go on one vacation together every year, where Alex unleashes his fun side and Poppy slowly learns to stop running away from her problems through vacations. 

Poppy and Alex go on multiple vacations such as a cabin trip to Squamish, New Orleans, Tuscany, and Barcelona. My personal favorite was the New Orleans trip because it felt so fun and romantic. They start by traveling through the festival streets and eating a bunch of food but in my opinion the most fun sequence in this vacation, and movie as a whole, was the dance number they did later that night. As they pretended to be a married couple, so they could get free drinks or food, Poppy, dazzling in her silver platform heels and blue bob wig, impulsively decides to show everyone their “wedding dance” and convinces Alex to dance with her to “Forever Your Girl” by Paula Abdul. The sequence brought a smile to my face because they had fun costumes, lights, and seemed to be having fun themselves. This was also pivotal because this was the vacation where they shared their first romantic flare. Overall, the Mardi-Gras theme and bedazzling vibe really captured my attention and felt so real.

As far as the cast’s acting, I thought everyone involved in the movie was fantastic, specifically Emily Bader and Tom Blyth. Their chemistry was very believable and the way they embodied the different sides of their characters was impressive. They both seemed to have an in-depth understanding of their characters and how each other’s character brought out a different side of their own character. The character development of this friends to lovers troupe was displayed so well and it was refreshing to see some new and talented actors. 

Personally, I believe this is one of the best rom-com movies viewers have gotten in a while. It had it all, the cinematography, the costumes, the acting, and the music. The script and movie as a whole felt so refreshing and new, which is something I, as well as the general public, seemed to admire.