The official poster for “People We Meet on Vacation.” The film was released Jan. 9. The poster portrays Poppy on the left in a green bikini, and on the right is Alex in a white shirt. This represents their time spent together on vacations.

Based on Emily Henry’s book of the same name, “People We Meet on Vacation” is a Netflix romantic comedy film released Jan. 9. The story illustrates how a long-term friendship between polar opposites Poppy (Emily Bader) and Alex (Tom Blyth) evolves into something more than best friends over many vacations spent together.

Alex and Poppy met because they were set up by a friend to share a car ride home from Boston College to their small hometown in Ohio. After a very long and awkward car ride, the two get locked out of their car and are forced to share a hotel room. Through sharing the room, Alex and Poppy were able to break through their initial awkwardness and become friends.

Alex is a nonchalant person — responsible, introverted and appearing to move seamlessly through life. Poppy is quite the opposite; she is outgoing, bubbly and eccentric. She likes to make her life as exciting and spontaneous as possible. People like this would not normally be in romantic relationships, nor be friends, but their relationship ends up being the biggest joy in their lives instead of a complication.

After the end of Alex and Poppy’s freshman year, the narrative alternates between memories of their annual summer vacations and the present, as Poppy attempts to mend her strained connection with Alex.

In the present, Alex and Poppy are estranged because of an event that took place during one of their vacations; however, the viewer does not know what happened between them yet. When Alex’s brother invites Poppy to attend his wedding in Barcelona, Spain, Poppy is hesitant to attend because she would be forced to see Alex after two years, but she ends up deciding to go.

Even though they have lives outside of each other and spend months not seeing each other, their friendship remains just as strong and electric as it was when they first met. They still have an instant connection that is recognizable in the present.

Although they made a great couple, I don’t think the writers did an amazing job showing their connection. Poppy and Alex took a long time to make their relationship personal and passionate because the first half of the movie simply followed their friendship. There was no spark or meaningful conversation that made me fall in love with their relationship.

Even though I appreciated the storytelling, the conversations they had on their trip became shallow and superficial at times due to a lack of in-depth discussions and emotion. Some of the humor in the movie feels forced, leaning on predictable jokes rather than clever or character-driven comedy, which can undercut the story’s otherwise heartfelt moments. 

When watching a romance movie, the purpose is to be touched and fall in love with the main characters. I liked that Alex and Poppy are very different from each other, showing that opposites attract, but I was not in love with their supposed “powerful” connection. Besides the vacation when they went to a club together, they just looked like an old couple relaxing. There should have been more events to show their strong connection, instead of just roaming around new cities.

Even though the script felt a little slow at times, Alex and Poppy had unique personalities, which the actors brought out pretty well. Bader uses a higher and uplifting tone to express Poppy’s eccentric personality when she was with Alex. In contrast, in the present, when Poppy is no longer speaking to Alex, Bader’s tone of voice is mellow, which showcases Poppy’s bland personality without Alex.

“People We Meet on Vacation” is an original story that navigates the romantic and platonic parts of relationships. While it isn’t the most profound, this cute and simple romance takes the viewer through Poppy and Alex’s relationship journey.