“People We Meet on Vacation” is like the perfect summer film, slow and steady, which makes you feel like everything is going to be okay; it’s not just a love story but a blend of love, confusion, fun, thrill, realization, new experiences, and much more.
This is the story of how two opposites become each other’s home. Starring Emily Bader as the bright and energetic Poppy Wright and Tom Blyth as the quiet and buttoned-up Alex Nielsen, the film takes us through a 10-year summer journey that ultimately leads to the love that was always there.
Their journey began many years ago on a fun car ride. The first thing that tied them together was the same College and a giant, dirty burrito. After that, they agreed to travel together every summer, and the film takes us to amazing places. One of their first big adventures was hiking in Squamish, Canada.
It’s all about green forests and tranquil lakes, Poppy is a little confused and Alex is a little stiff, but they hit it off when they go hiking and sit by the water, and interact with strangers and had fun it’s one of those “simple” trips where you realize you don’t need a fancy hotel to have a good time, you just need each other and a tent.
Then there was a trip to New Orleans, which was really fun. They walked around the French Quarter, ate too many beignets at Café du Monde, and even lied about being newlyweds just to get something for free. They danced at the bar, where Poppy was impressed by her fake husband’s dancing skills. But the real heart of the film is what happens when things aren’t perfect, when, just before their planned trip to Norway, Poppy falls ill and asks Alex to leave without her.
Of course, there are difficulties in any relationship, In Palm Springs, California, where Poppy and her current boyfriend invite Alex and his girlfriend Sarah, they both are in relationship with different person but somehow, they had unknown feelings for each other, feelings that no one is here to confess for in their words they are best friends but now the friendship is much more than being friend and they totally aware from that.
During Alex and Poppy’s “Tuscany” trip, tension arises between them, when they shared a romantic kiss “A conscious and unconscious release of the feelings they had been hiding—but they panicked and stopped before it became even more intense”, Terrified of ruining their friendship, they pulled apart, and after that trip, Alex ghosted Poppy for two years.
Later, things finally come to a head in Barcelona, Spain, where they reunite for Alex’s brother’s wedding in a beautiful clifftop garden, the air conditioning in Poppy’s room is broken, it’s terribly hot, and everything seems dirty, but that’s when they finally stop running.
This is the most suspenseful part of the film, where Alex tells Poppy that he has broken off his engagement with Sarah. Poppy confesses her love, they have their romantic moment there, but somehow, she still can’t get rid of the habit of running away, and she leaves Alex there and moves back to New York. Back in the city, the silence is deafening. Poppy realizes that no matter where she flies or what she writes, the “dream life” is empty without the one person who truly knows her. She stops running and makes the most crucial decision of her life.
She goes back to Ohio. She finds Alex and tells him she’s done escaping. She chooses him, not just for the vacations, but for the everyday, the film ends with the beautiful realization that home is everywhere, even on vacation.
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