From a book to the screen, “The People We Meet On Vacation”  gave hope  and a longing for a special connection with the right person to hopeless romantics; however, most people would agree that the ending was very predictable, and the plot was not strong enough to create a solid twist.

Starring in the rom-com movie released early January 2026 via Netflix, newest acting star Tom Blyth continues to grow his career and fame.

Emily Bader, who played the other main character, Poppy, brought emotional depth to her character by showing her vibrant and humorous self, but also her longing and guilt through her expressions throughout the entire movie, despite the plot’s shortcomings. 

The storyline of the movie was arguably not as emotionally complex as it should have been. The movie is a rom-com about two mutual friends, who develop a strong friendship and spend summers traveling together. 

Most viewers could see the ending coming because of traditional rom-com tropes: a girl and a boy fall in love, end up going through challenges that cause heartbreak, leaving it up to chance if the pair will reconcile. 

**Spoiler Alert**

The scene towards the end of the movie where Tom Blyth plays the character of “Alex,” follows Poppy into her apartment, resulting in the pair confessing love. They still aren’t able to workout, causing them to take a break from each other for a few weeks. Poppy looks outside her house and sees Alex running by her house, so then she runs to him, even though she stated previously in the movie that she hates running.

It was very predictable that they were going to have a love confession scene in the rain at this point. It became clear when Poppy kept complaining about the heat and opened up her balcony door and stood in the pouring rain. Many viewers saw the ending as predictable, such as  senior Jenni Truong and junior Grace Woods, who have both watched the movie. 

“I liked the movie because there were a lot of genuine moments between Poppy and Alex,” Truong said. “But it was obvious that they were going to be together in the end.”

Sharing the same opinion, junior Grace Woods, was eager to offer her perspective and captures that feeling in her response. 

“I enjoyed the movie ‘The People We Meet On Vacation’ because the characters’ connection felt real, their friendship was sweet, and it was overall a cute and fun movie to watch,” Woods said. “However, it was predictable because it followed a common friends-to-lovers story, making it really easy to guess the ending.”

I’m confused why the writers made Alex run by Poppy’s house, but not look back or realize it was her house. I would think that, from knowing her for so long, if he was running by her house, it’s probably because he knows which house hers is and is checking in on her silently. However, I do understand that it was supposed to be more of a romantic gesture that she ran after him to confess her love to him.

Director Brett Haley and the original novel’s writer, Emily Henry, tried to create too much of an emotional rollercoaster at the end. The beginning of the movie did a good job of showing their background chemistry and how they became best friends. In their efforts, the ending really dragged out the main characters’ love problems.

On the contrary, this rom-com is very light-hearted and a cute couple’s movie to watch. Blyth and Bladder had strong chemistry in this film, and it is worth purchasing a Netflix subscription if you are a hopeless romantic.

Viewers should not expect a ground-breaking ending that leaves them shocked or speechless. The movie delivers a fun and emotional message, but for many fans, the ending simply doesn’t live up to the hype. My overall rating of the movie would be a 3.5/5 warrior feathers.