Pack your bags, because it’s time for Poppy and Alex’s big trip. Tom Blyth (Alex) and Emily Bader (Poppy) star as unlikely best friends in the new rom-com People We Meet on Vacation, which has been nominated for an Outstanding Television Movie Emmy. Directed by Brett Haley (Hearts Beat Loud, All the Bright Places), the adaptation of the beloved Emily Henry novel is now streaming on Netflix. Get a peek of the duo in the photos below.
“This is a movie that doesn’t just tell a love story,” Haley tells Tudum. “It makes you feel like you’ve gone on vacation right alongside Poppy and Alex.”
Bader and Blyth are joined on their adventure by an ensemble cast featuring Sarah Catherine Hook, Jameela Jamil, Lucien Laviscount, and Lukas Gage.
“I truly could not feel more confident that my readers and then so many more people who don’t even know about the book are going to completely fall in love with Poppy and Alex,” Henry says.
The film is produced in partnership with Temple Hill and 3000 Pictures. Read on for more information about People We Meet on Vacation — it’s time to fulfill your wanderlust!
Free-spirited Poppy (Bader) and routine-loving Alex (Blyth) have been unlikely best friends for a decade, living in different cities but spending every summer vacation together. The careful balance of their friendship is put to the test when they begin to question what has been obvious to everyone else — could they actually be the perfect romantic match?
Bader tells Tudum that one of her favorite things about the movie and Henry’s book is that, in essence, it’s “quite a simple slice-of-life story about two people just being able to love themselves and therefore love each other.”
The cast of People We Meet on Vacation includes:
“I watched their chemistry read four times in 12 hours, and I loved it more every single time,” Henry says of Blyth and Bader. “The very first time I was laughing out loud, and I got so emotional by the end.”
Haley echoes that the story lives or dies on Alex and Poppy’s connection. “Emily and Tom’s chemistry is electric. They capture that opposites-attract dynamic in a way that feels effortless and true,” says the director.
Poppy is the unpredictable one of the pair — funny, outspoken, a little zany, but also full of heart and vulnerability. “She wears her emotions so openly, and Emily Bader captures all of that so fully,” says Haley. “Her comedic timing is razor sharp, but she also has the range to land dramatic and romantic moments with real depth.” Haley compares her grounded charisma to the likes of Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts’ rom-coms. “She’ll make you laugh, and she’ll make you cry.”
Alex, by contrast, is more pragmatic and measured — the steady counterbalance to Poppy’s energy. “Tom Blyth, who in real life is effortlessly cool, really leaned into Alex’s logic and restraint in a way that made the character feel incredibly real and relatable,” says Haley. “He brought so much life, warmth, and quiet humor to the role.” The director also commends Blyth’s undeniable movie-star presence, “his eyes are so expressive you could just watch him think.”
Yes! Published in 2021, People We Meet on Vacation debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times’ bestseller list and has sold more than 2 million copies in the US, making it Henry’s highest-selling book. The upcoming movie will be Henry’s first book-to-film adaptation.
When bringing Henry’s beloved book to the screen, Haley wanted to keep everything, “because I loved this book so much.” But since the book was being adapted into a film and not a series, they had to make some tough choices to keep it within a reasonable runtime for viewers. “What mattered most, though, was preserving the heart of the story: the relationship between Poppy and Alex,” he says.
Haley wanted to capture their journey from complete opposites, to tentative friends, to best friends, and finally to something more. “It was essential to me, and to everyone involved, that we honor that arc. Their love story is the spine of the book, and it had to be the spine of the film.”
Alex and Poppy’s journey is not a whirlwind romance. It unfolds over nearly a decade of friendship, vacations, big life changes, and slowly building feelings. That kind of love story, rooted in shared history and hard-earned vulnerability, feels rare and timeless to Haley. “My hope is that fans of the book see the care we put into bringing Poppy and Alex to life on screen, and that new audiences fall for them just as deeply.”
Fans can get excited about just how many places Poppy and Alex go on vacation in People We Meet on Vacation. “We used to joke that this is the James Bond of rom-coms when it comes to locations,” says Haley. “We brought a lot of the vacations from the book to life and focused on the ones that felt most important to the story.”
People We Meet on Vacation shot in locations ranging from New Orleans to a destination wedding in Barcelona (a change from the book’s location of Palm Springs). For Blyth, part of wanting to film a rom-com that travels around the world was getting to, well, travel around the world. “The clue is in the name,” he says. “It’s People We Meet on Vacation, and we have gotten to do that tenfold.”
Yes! Hear Bader and Blyth’s voices as Poppy and Alex for the first time in the date announcement video above. Plus, learn the answer to, “Where does Alex Nilsen stand on travel? Love or hate?”
People We Meet on Vacation is now streaming, only on Netflix.
Emily Henry fans, you’re in luck. Netflix is officially developing two more of the author’s books into films: Happy Place and Funny Story. For more on what’s next in the Emily Henry universe, click here.
And keep coming back to Tudum for all your swoon-worthy rom-com news.
