Emily Henry is my Taylor Swift.
This may seem ironic, as Swift’s “august” recently appeared in the film adaptation of Henry’s rom-com novel People We Meet on Vacation (PWMOV). However, I say this because I fangirl over Henry the way Swifties do over Swift—read her new releases in a day and immediately become impatient for the next.
I had a similar reaction to the film PWMOV, released on Netflix on Jan. 9. The only time I’d read the original was four years prior to the film’s debut, so my memory was a bit fuzzy. Even so, I had fond memories of a witty, stunning rom-com, so I had high expectations.
The film delivered this promise—partially.
For those unfamiliar with the premise, People We Meet on Vacation details the relationship between Poppy Wright (Emily Bader) and Alex Nilsen (Tom Blyth), two 30-something-year-olds who have been platonic best friends for 12 years, despite being polar opposites. Ever since they met in college, they’ve taken a week-long summer vacation together. That is, until two years ago, when their friendship fell apart. Now, Poppy is trying to pick up the pieces. She conspicuously plans one last vacation with Alex to set everything right.
Now, I remember when the casting was revealed. I opened Instagram, saw Emily Bader and Tom Blyth, then shrieked and promptly dropped my phone.
That is to say, I could fully envision them as the free-spirited Poppy and reserved Alex, respectively. In the film, Bader was the effervescent, sparkling character I expected her to be. She perfectly conveyed Poppy’s inner whimsy, combined with the desire to leave her life in Linfield behind. Although I also enjoyed Blyth’s performance, the poorly-written script didn’t do him any favors. In the book, Alex is described as having “a surplus of stoicism,” alongside being a “truly strange, secretly silly, intensely softhearted goofball.” In addition to Blyth taking the “stoicism” a little too seriously, Alex was a one-dimensional version of himself.
Henry originally penned a monologue for Alex towards the end of the book, involving a pregnancy scare and a vasectomy. Unfortunately, it was omitted from the final cut. This plotline is an essential part of Alex’s character and is something that Henry should not have compromised on. Henry’s characters are emotional and compelling, but Movie Alex was just slightly interesting rather than intriguing. His backstory of childhood trauma leading to perfectionism was skimmed over, and even Poppy’s quirky characteristics were for comedic purposes rather than relatable to the audience.
Tacking on to the “serious” vibe emanating from Movie Alex, the film fell a little flat for me overall. The color grading was gorgeous, and the rudimentary pieces were there, but oddly, it felt almost low-budget and surface-level. The book spans nearly 400 pages and takes place over 12 years, with chapters for the defining moments in their relationship while still having space for Henry to make quips such as “sassy skin triangle.” Poppy and Alex are fully fleshed characters, so concrete that they feel like real people when I read the book. However, the film barely expands on their tendencies and background, leaning towards the all-fluff, no-substance rom-com route.
While watching, I was reminded of Thor: Love and Thunder—one of the worst movies in recent years. Love and Thunder was the follow-up to director Taika Waititi’s success, Thor: Ragnarok, which is incredibly funny without feeling like it intends to be funny. In this case, the book version of PWMOV is Ragnarok, and Love and Thunder is the film PWMOV: the comedy was blown out of proportion and therefore, was disappointing rather than pleasantly surprising.
Two hours was nowhere near enough time to focus on the romance with a light balance of comedy, while maintaining the longevity of the original story (a.k.a not combining the Croatia and Tuscany vacations). To give the narrative justice, People We Meet on Vacation should have been a limited series, similar to One Day.
I never thought I would say I’m dissatisfied with an Emily Henry production, but here we are. Four of her other five existing novels are also set to become films, so I only hope that they are treated with more respect than Poppy and Alex were, emphasizing inner sophistication rather than second-screening audience appeal.
