PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION

People We Meet On Vacation (2026)

Directed by: Brett Harley

𝗣𝗼𝗽𝗽𝘆 is the girl your boyfriend swears you shouldn’t worry about, but she turns out to be exactly the opposite. 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅 is the guy who insists they’re just friends, but his feelings tell otherwise.

Annoying and irritating, they don’t deserve to be leads of this movie. Instead, more stories should be written for people like 𝗦𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗵—who chooses to grow, be better, and turn lemons into lemonade.

This movie is just romanticizing cheating and making red flags look cute. The 𝗳𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 being a writer makes it even worse, because she can easily use words to gaslight herself out of the situation. The 𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 proposing to another girl the day after his best friend tries to kiss him isn’t romantic but unsettling.

These characters play with other people’s emotions for years, but the script is too focused on justifying their so-called platonic friendship. The constant switching between timelines only highlights how stagnant their personal growth has been.

It’s cliché and exhausting. The leads are becoming more immature with every summer that goes by. Their families and friends show up only once or twice, leaving no one to truly guide them and pull them back to reality. They are merely escaping responsibilities and consequences of their actions.

These are the types of people you don’t want to meet—whether you’re on vacation or not. The title is also misleading, failing to represent the essence of the story. The script reads like an excuse to hurt your exes because you never had the courage to be honest from the start.

If there’s one thing in this movie that’s actually worth praising, it’s the noise‑cancelling earphones. They’re the only thing that’s consistently good. What brand is that?

𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐖𝐄 𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐎𝐍 𝐕𝐀𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

Cast: Emily Bader and Tom Blyth

Written by: Yulin Huang, Amos Vernon, Nunzio Randazzo

Based on a 2021 novel by: Emily Henry

Presented by: 3000 Pictures, Temple Hill Pictures, HarperCollins Publishers, Netflix

Release Date: January 9, 2026 on Netflix

A Movie Review by: Goldwin Reviews