People We Meet On Vacation

Disclaimer: I’m a blind film critic, and I typically watch films that also have an audio description track. This film has audio description by International Digital Center, written by Steven Christopher, and narrated by Kimberly Chattergy.

It is tough to be first out of the gate at Netflix. There’s already the Netflix stigma some unfairly put on Netflix films, but January is not the peak time for great movies. It has become a month with 1-3 surprises, and a few hits have truly been born as a result. People We Meet On Vacation is a January romantic comedy, oddly positioned perhaps a bit too far from Valentines, but none of this is the fault of the film. So, no matter what stigma is attached to it, the question is “is it good?”

People We Meet On vacation stars Emily Bader and Tom Bly as cartoonishly polar opposites. they seem created to repel each other. if one of them had mentioned their dislike for setting themselves on fire, I’m sure the other would to be contrarian. They are just graduating high school, ready to head off to college in the same town. So, these two, that don’t know each other, go on a road trip, where they learn they have nothing in common and it is all purely platonic.

But we also start out with Bader’s Poppy working as a travel influencer. She gets paid to go on extravagant vacations and write about them. when she gets a call from an old friend, we see her apprehension at running into this old friend. So the film is told in two timelines, with the current headed toward a wedding and this reunion, while we cut to the past, full of adventures, but also two people trying really hard to not have feelings for each other. And yet, they did. Maybe.

Bader and Bly have interesting chemistry as a couple that isn’t supposed to be, but clearly has a spark of something. I thought Bader was adorable, and reminded me a lot of Zoey Deutsch or Anna Kendrick. Netflix needs to get in the Emily Bader business. She was last seen on Amazon’s My Lady Jane, but could easily do a lot more. Bly, recently off Plain Clothes, gives a very different, more assured performance. he’s nice as the straight man character here. Not straight, like that, but he’s a little bit of a stick in the mud, and Bader is the life of the party.

Sometimes, the film treads into predictable territory, like in the burrito sequence. It goes exactly HOW you think it will. I would have been more impressed if the film took the road not taken a few times.

It might be a tad long, but it is under two hours, so pacing becomes a problem. However, films like this rely heavily on chemistry between the leads, and their general presence on their own. Bader and Bly are a nice combination, considering they are constantly in a struggle to be opposites. But, I hear, opposites attract?

the audio description is delightful. Not only does it seem to get all the big stuff right, but Christopher’s script goes for additional tidbits like a fully stocked fridge, or describing a bathroom in some detail as a character vomits in a toilet. I noticed the little beats, and I liked them.

That’s the thing about this, is that it is a film to like. I’m not sure loving it is in the cards, but it is easily watchable, and engaging enough for a straight to streaming release. It is also produced well enough that it could have been in theaters.

The biggest hurdle this film faces is trying to convince an audience about someone who gets paid to travel, and in 2026, our world is on fire. Somehow, you must bottle this up. Pretend you can enjoy escapist cinema, and let this standard romantic dramady do it for you.

Emily Bader and Tom Bly show star potential in a derivative romantic comedy plot that still strives to be fun and fresh like a summer vacation.

Fresh: 6.9/10