People We Meet on Vacation (2026)
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12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
Two polar opposites become best friends and share a decade of annual summer vacations together.
The story
Poppy, a New York City-based travel writer who is unhappy with her life, learns of a friend's upcoming wedding in Barcelona. She views it as an opportunity to reconnect with her former best friend, Alex, whom she hasn't spoken to in two years. She contacts him, falsely claiming she is attending the wedding for work. The story explores their complex history, beginning from their time as students at Boston College and a series of annual summer trips they took together over the past decade, which forged a deep but complicated bond between the two friends.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Poppy, a travel writer, lies to her friend Alex about her reasons for going to Barcelona to reconnect with him. Their history is revealed through flashbacks: they met at Boston College, took a road trip to Ohio, and committed to annual summer vacations together. In the present, they recount past trips to New Orleans and a failed trip to Norway. During a trip to a Tuscan villa years prior, a moment of intimacy led to a falling out when Alex chose to settle down with his girlfriend, Sarah, while Poppy remained independent. In the present, they confront their feelings and realize they are in love. After a period of uncertainty and a confrontation at the airport where Poppy meets Sarah, Poppy realizes she wants to be with Alex. She leaves her job, moves to Linfield, and eventually, the two settle down together in New York City, continuing their tradition of vacationing as a couple.
- First release year
- 2026
- Runtime (minutes)
- 118
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Brett Haley
- Writers
- Yulin Kuang · screenplay; Amos Vernon · screenplay; Nunzio Randazzo · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Emily Bader; Tom Blyth
- Genres
- romantic comedy
- Themes
- friendship; romance; fear of commitment
- Tone and mood
- romantic; nostalgic
- Setting
- Various locations including New York City, Barcelona, Linfield (Ohio), New Orleans, and Tuscany.
- Premise and plot tags
- road trip; travel; long-term friendship
- Source material / true-story basis
- 2021 novel by Emily Henry
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reception.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 50 · scale: 100 · review count: 14
- Production trivia
- The film premiered to 17.2 million viewers over its debut weekend.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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