People We Meet on Vacation is the movie adaptation of Emily Henry’s book of the same name, but is it really for the lovers of this book? That is a question it leaves hanging.
The rom-com follows the protagonist Poppy, and her friend, Alex, after they become best friends under accidental circumstances and form a ritual to take a trip together every year.
Alex, played by Tom Blyth, seems to be the cliched rom-com hero who is reserved, introverted, and super annoyed yet equally charmed by the classic rom-com heroine Poppy who is quirky, happy-go-lucky, and fun in all the ways the hero is not.
Tale old as time unfolds, and the movie goes on, yet it doesn’t leave an impression enough on the audience to remember what happened once the movie is finished.
The movie seems to be a victim of Netflixification, or second screen complex, which can be explained as an algorithmic model to create media intended to be binge-watched, or watched distractedly in presence of another screen.
Assuming the viewer would not have their eyes glued to the screen, the movie lacks the ability to engage its audience, glossing over the nuances the original source, Henry’s book gave its characters.
Both the characters sound similar, have no unique character traits or backstories besides what becomes the focus of their relationship with each other.
At one point in the movie, the audience is told that these friends have not met each other for over two years, yet in a movie of nearly two hours, there is hardly any scene where they are not together. The space required to build up the yearning that we are told about, is not given to the characters.
Henry’s book seemed to provide the skeletal structure of the film, while the rest was filled with clichés of the genre, and visually appealing cinematography.
All in all, while the film is not a waste of time, harshly put, it underestimates its audience and does not challenge them to follow the story in a less formulaic way.
Poppy and Alex’s story on film might still be enjoyable for people who want to watch something to feel good, as they wind down after the day and scroll through Instagram, which contributed to its 76% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
