Lamar Reviews - "People We Meet on Vacation" (Airdate 1/30/2026)

Make no mistake, this romcom is not going to
change the world. But, since this is on Netflix, it’s
not going to cost you $50 to see it in a theater. You
can watch it from your comfortable chair at home
and pause it when you have to go to the
bathroom.
For a romantic comedy to be good, the chemistry
between the couple must be good and believable.
And you must like both people. It is, and you will.
Now there are no surprises here, but let’s be
honest, there hasn’t been any real surprises in a
romantic comedy in quite a few years. Yet we still
watch them, and if they are done right, we enjoy
them and forget them until the next one.
Poppy, played by Emily Bader, met when Alex,
played by Tom Blyth, agrees to give her a ride
home from college during a break.
Immediately it is clear that they are polar
opposites that don’t agree on anything. Alex is a
man with a plan, and he always follows that plan.
He is punctual, practical, neat and no nonsense.

Poppy on the other hand is care free, take it as it
comes, jump and look later, and filled with
wanderlust.
Those things in themselves guarantee that in
around 1 hour and 35 minutes they will declare
their love forever.
Trust me, I timed it. The question is, do we enjoy
the next little over an hour and a half?
The movie is 1 hour and 57 minutes, Rated-PG-13
for sexual content, drug use, nudity and brief
strong language.
The title would suggest single people meeting
people for no-strings flings will traveling the world
but that is not at all the case. This story is about 2
people who become platonic friends and meet up
once a year to travel on exotic vacations, (Poppy
is a Travel Writer), and totally enjoy each other’s
friendship.
We are introduced to the story present day as
Poppy is invited to a wedding that both her and
Alex are invited too. She is not going to go
because their friendship has become estranged.

They have not spoken in two years, and it would
be awkward. Reckless Poppy at the last minute
decides to go.
The audience is brought up to speed on what
caused the rift by showing flashbacks of Poppy
and Alex’s nine year travel history.
The movie works because you love both
characters, and you believe that they love each
other. Although neither one wants to approach the
subject. The movie does give us a few near
misses to give us hope, even though as we are
going, “will they or won’t they”, we already know
the outcome. It is the journey we want to see. And
in my opinion the movie does not disappoint.
This is basically Harry Met Salley without the
restaurant scene. But so is most every successful
romcom.
Jameela Jamil, Molly Shannon, and Alan Ruck
round out cast, and add some great moments to
the movie. It’s on Netflix, whatta you got to lose?
My Score: 4 Sweet and Fun Budweisers.