Emily Bader and Tom Blyth enjoying sweet drinks while walking the streets in People We Meet on VacationImage via Netflix
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Ryan O'Rourke
Published 9 minutes ago
Ryan O'Rourke is a Senior News Writer at Collider with a specific interest in all things adult animation, video game adaptations, and the work of Mike Flanagan. He is also an experienced baseball writer with over six years of articles between multiple outlets, most notably FanSided's CubbiesCrib. Whether it's taking in a baseball game, a new season of Futurama or Castlevania: Nocturne, or playing the latest From Software title, he is always finding ways to show his fandom. When it comes to gaming and anything that takes inspiration from it, he is deeply opinionated on what's going on. Outside of entertainment, he's a graduate of Eureka College with a Bachelor's in Communication where he honed his craft as a writer. Between The IV Leader at Illinois Valley Community College and The Pegasus at Eureka, he spent the majority of his college career publishing articles on everything from politics to campus happenings and, of course, entertainment for the student body. Those principles he learned covering the 2020 election, Palestine, and so much more are brought here to Collider, where he has gleefully written on everything from the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes to Nathan Lane baby-birding sewer boys.
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Just over one month remains until Netflix takes a trip with Emily Bader's Poppy and Tom Blyth's Alex for its much-anticipated romance film adaptation, People We Meet on Vacation. Before viewers get their bags packed and embark on the feature-length adventure, however, a new trailer has been released to tease what lies ahead for the longtime best friends. Based on Emily Henry's New York Times best-selling BookTok smash hit, the film follows the unlikely duo during their latest annual summer vacation together, as they start to wonder if they are the perfect romantic match like everyone around them seems to believe. The new footage sees them wrestling with their chemistry despite the many differences between them and the different lives they lead when not soaking up the sun together.
The trailer takes things back to how it all began — with one of Poppy and Alex's earliest trips together as friends. Although Poppy's parents treat Alex more like their daughter's boyfriend, with her mother (Molly Shannon) enthusiastically offering condoms for safety, they kept things strictly platonic as they enjoyed late-night skinny-dipping and car rides across the country. Together, the perfect pair resolve to keep the tradition year after year, no matter where in the world they end up. Cut to a decade later, and they're still visiting different cities together, taking in idyllic locales, and enjoying parties at night. Throughout it all, they seem like surprisingly perfect complements to each other, with the free-spirited Poppy helping Alex embrace his "vacation" self and live a little every summer, and Alex being there to pick her up. Yet, the feelings between them complicate their trips, leaving them wondering who they are to each other and whether they're meant to be together.
Netflix has no shortage of high-profile book adaptations to its name, yet People We Meet on Vacation might be one of its buzziest yet. Henry's original novel has sold over 2 million copies to date and spent 69 weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers list, thanks in part to all the attention on TikTok. The author has a devoted fan base, too, having sold over 8 million books total in the U.S. alone and spending a collective 157 weeks on the bestsellers list between her various works. Four of her other novels are also in various stages of being adapted to the screen, with Book Lovers notably landing Sarah Hayward to write.
'People We Meet on Vacation' Adds to the Excitement With a Buzzy Team
Making People We Meet on Vacation even buzzier is the cast and creative team attached. Bader and Blyth have both proven themselves as leads between My Lady Jane and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, respectively, and are joined by a starry group that features Shannon, Sarah Catherine Hook, Lucien Laviscount, Miles Heizer, Jameela Jamil, Tommy Do, Lukas Gage, Alice Lee, and Alan Ruck. At the helm, meanwhile, is Brett Haley, who previously helmed the 2020 teen comedy All Together Now at Netflix. He's no stranger to making romance for the streamer, though, also taking the reins for the drama All the Bright Places, pairing up Elle Fanning and Justice Smith.
People We Meet on Vacation arrives on Netflix on January 9, 2026. Check out the new trailer in the player above.
People We Meet on Vacation
Like Follow Followed PG-13 Romance Comedy Drama Release Date January 9, 2026 Director Brett Haley Writers Yulin Kuang Producers Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen, Isaac KlausnerCast
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Tom Blyth
Alex
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Emily Bader
Poppy Wright
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Sarah Catherine Hook
Sarah
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Jameela Jamil
Swapna Bakshi-Highsmith
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People We Meet On Vacation
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