In flashback, we see how Poppy and Alex became lifelong, loving friends. The acting and direction here is excellent. There’s a solid statement made about friendship being the perfect foundation for lasting relationships of any stripe. But viewers also have to deal with the movie’s sexually permissive worldview, some nudity, foul language and lots of boozing.
When Poppy and Alex first met and shared a car ride to college, it was pretty obvious that they weren’t going to get along. Poppy was extremely talkative, awkward and loud. And Alex was measured, rather boring and eye-rollingly repelled by nearly every aspect of this young woman sharing his car.
However, after everything went sideways on their trip, the pair somehow became friends. Alex displayed an unexpected tenderness that Poppy found disarming. And Poppy helped the dry and staid Alex see things from a fresh perspective.
Miraculously, they decided to stay in touch. And then there was the second trip.
Alex and Poppy made the odd choice of traveling together again. Purely as friends, mind you. There was absolutely nothing romantic in their relationship. But they did kind of mutually enjoy spending time together. And by the end of their second outing—this time a hiking trip in Canada—they decided that annual vacations together might just be endurable, if not, actually, fun or anything.
As the years have passed and the list of shared vacations has lengthened, one thing has become clear: Poppy and Alex are good for each other. Again, nothing romantic. In fact, they both have love interests that suit them far better than each another.
Poppy’s boyfriend, Trey, is quick to proclaim that he shares her nomadic, no-roots mindset. And Sarah, Alex’s longtime, on-and-off-again squeeze is more than happy to settle down. But … if Poppy needs a shoulder to cry on or if Alex needs a suggestion for some exotic trip to clear his head, they both also know who they’ll swiftly call.
Is that weird?
After establishing their friendship, Poppy and Alex stand staunchly beside one another. On one scheduled vacation, for instance, Poppy falls sick just before the flight. And even though Poppy makes Alex promise to travel anyway, he instead shows up at her apartment and spends the week nursing her back to health. “What’s the point of being in Norway if you’re not there?” he declares. We see other instances where the friends proclaim that they’ll always be there for each other in times of need.
The film promotes the idea that finding someone with whom you can be “entirely yourself,” finding a person who loves you for who you are, can feel like the equivalent of finding a home.
[Spoiler Warning] With time, Poppy and Alex each come to recognize their mutual feelings. And they proclaim their love: “When I’m sad or sick … you’re all I want,” Poppy says. “And when I’m happy, you make me so much happier. I know I’ve got a lot of things to figure out, but if there’s one thing that I know, it’s that wherever you are in the world, that’s where I belong.”
Someone notes that because of her job, Poppy has “more airline points than God.” Poppy mentions a friend who once ate food that “made him believe in God.”
On a Canadian vacation, Poppy and Alex are invited to camp overnight with a partying group. After becoming inebriated, Poppy goes into one man’s tent where they make out and remove their clothes (she leaves on underwear; we see them from the waist up).
Meanwhile, Alex follows a group who goes skinny-dipping in the ocean. It’s dark, but we see six or seven twentysomethings disrobe and run to the water (seen mostly from the rear). Alex pulls off his pants and shirt and runs in too. But his clothes are accidently pulled away by the waves. When he gets out of the water, he runs about naked while cupping his crotch (we see him from the front and rear).
Various different couples kiss. This number includes a pair of gay, male newlyweds who kiss during their ceremony. We also see a male and female couple who kiss passionately in the rain and take off each other’s clothing. The guy picks the woman up and carries her to a couch inside where they continue to kiss and caress one another. (They’re both apparently naked, but the camera’s angle and placement keeps vital areas just out of sight.) The pair wake the next morning in bed, covered strategically by a sheet.
Poppy dresses in form-fitting swimsuits and sheer, silky, low-cut dresses. She tells Alex that she was accused of giving a boy oral sex when she was a teen. It was a false accusation, but for three years she was called “Porny Poppy.” Alex says that if he had known her, he would never have called her that. Poppy thanks him for saying so, and for being “the first person I told that story to who didn’t ask if I did it.”
A number of sexualized quips and jokes are tossed about. Poppy has a “scare” over being potentially pregnant. (She isn’t.) When meeting Alex for the first time, Poppy’s parents give the two friends a jumbo pack of condoms, and Poppy’s dad talks to Alex about sexual performance.
An inebriated Poppy twists her ankle and falls to the ground. Alex painfully tweaks his back while attempting to repair an overhead appliance.
The movie’s dialogue contains one f-word and more than 20 s-words, along with uses of “d–n,” “friggin’” and “a–.” God’s name is misused three times and Jesus’ name once.
Poppy and Alex visit several vacation spots where they drink beer, wine and mixed drinks. In fact, there tends to be some form of imbibing in nearly every scene. People also smoke weed on a few different occasions.
Poppy’s mom gives Alex an illegally obtained container of “beta blockers” to help with his flight anxiety. The pills knock him out cold. Poppy gives Alex some pain meds after he sprains his back. Poppy and Alex joke about “methy” truckdrivers.
On one vacation to New Orleans, Poppy and Alex lie about being newlyweds in an effort to get free food, booze and swag from local booth owners. Poppy declares: “When you’re on vacation you do stupid s–t with people that you’ll never have to see again.”
Poppy vomits. Someone’s tattoo makes Poppy think about death and a loved one who recently died.
People We Meet on Vacation, based on Emily Henry’s bestselling 2021 romance novel, is almost the perfect romantic comedy. I mean, stars Emily Bader and Tom Blyth are perfectly cast as besties who have a hard time realizing how spot-on perfect they are for each other. Their performances are top-shelf. The film’s flashback-filled story is fun and crisp. And Brett Haley’s direction is refreshingly inconspicuous.
In fact, this pic presents a very wise, old-school assertion that enduring and veracious friendship is the foundation of any true and lasting love story. That’s the sort of appealing motif that we don’t often find when scrolling through today’s typical streaming fare.
The unfortunate irony of this pic is that it wholeheartedly accepts the very typical sexual mindset of today’s cinema, too. Even though earnest friendship is the aspiration, the film declares that everything else is A-OK. In fact, parents here hand out giant boxes of condoms and “safe” illicit drugs as they wish their adult children well.
Potential viewers of this film will have to spend their moviegoing vacation embracing nudity, casual sex, heavy drinking and foul language along with any tenderhearted wisdom in the mix.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
