As the holiday lights twinkle and the new year beckons with promises of fresh starts, Netflix is serving up the ultimate antidote to winter blues: a globe-trotting rom-com that captures the thrill of unspoken crushes and the magic of second chances. People We Meet on Vacation, the long-awaited adaptation of Emily Henry’s 2021 bestseller, lands exclusively on the streaming giant on January 9, 2026. Starring rising stars Emily Bader and Tom Blyth as two best friends whose decade of sun-drenched getaways teeters on the edge of something more, this heartfelt tale of friendship blurring into love is poised to become the feel-good hit that has everyone booking imaginary trips and dissecting “what if” moments over brunch. In a post-pandemic world still craving connection, the film’s teaser trailer—dropped just weeks ago—has already sparked a frenzy, with fans declaring it “the rom-com we deserve” and “a love letter to every slow-burn crush.”

Henry’s novel, which skyrocketed to the top of the New York Times bestseller list and clinched the Goodreads Choice Award for Romance, has been a phenomenon for book clubs and beach bags alike. With over two million copies sold in the U.S. alone, it weaves a tapestry of witty banter, wanderlust, and that delicious ache of unrequited tension. The story centers on Poppy Wright, a vibrant travel writer whose life is a whirlwind of exotic locales and impulsive adventures, and Alex Nilsson, her polar-opposite bestie—a meticulous high school English teacher who finds solace in well-worn novels and meticulously planned itineraries. They met as freshmen at the University of Chicago, bonding over a disastrous group project and a shared disdain for small talk. Despite Poppy fleeing to New York City for her dream job at a glossy magazine and Alex retreating to their sleepy Ohio hometown of Linfield to teach, they’ve upheld a sacred ritual: one week every summer, jetting off to a new destination, no holds barred.

Flash forward two years after their last trip—a Croatia catastrophe involving too much wine, a midnight swim gone wrong, and confessions best left unspoken—and Poppy is adrift. Her career feels stale, her love life a series of fizzles, and the silence from Alex stings like a phantom limb. Desperate to reclaim her spark, she pitches one final vacation: a palm-fringed paradise where they can hash it out, laugh it off, and maybe, just maybe, rewrite their story. What unfolds is a nonlinear odyssey through their past escapades—from a sunburnt Palm Springs pool party where Poppy drags a reluctant Alex to a scorpion-hunting tour, to a rain-soaked Edinburgh stroll that nearly ends in a kiss under the wrong umbrella. Along the way, Henry masterfully peels back layers: Poppy’s aversion to roots stems from a childhood of feeling like an outsider in her buttoned-up family, while Alex’s aversion to risk hides the grief of losing his mother young. Their vacations aren’t just backdrops; they’re pressure cookers for the truth they’ve both dodged—that the spark between them has been smoldering for years.

Adapting such a beloved page-turner for the screen was no small feat, but Netflix, in partnership with Sony Pictures’ 3000 Pictures and Temple Hill Entertainment, assembled a dream team to honor its spirit. Director Brett Haley, whose indie gems like Hearts Beat Loud and Netflix’s own All the Bright Places have a knack for blending humor with heartache, was tapped early on. “This isn’t just a love story,” Haley shared in a recent Tudum interview. “It’s about the vacations we take in our minds—the ones where we imagine what could be if we just said the words.” Screenwriter Yulin Kuang, a romance novelist herself (Delilah Green Doesn’t Care to Marry), brings her insider’s touch, having penned adaptations of Henry’s Beach Read and others. Producers Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, and Isaac Klausner—veterans of The Fault in Our Stars and Twilight—ensured the film’s $45 million budget went toward lush locations that pop like Instagram filters: sun-baked beaches in Mexico doubling for Palm Springs, cobblestone streets in Prague standing in for Croatia, and a verdant vineyard in Napa evoking their Norwegian fjord jaunt.

At the helm are Bader and Blyth, whose casting sent BookTok into a tailspin. Emily Bader, 28, fresh off her breakout as the plucky Jane Grey in Prime Video’s My Lady Jane, embodies Poppy’s effervescent chaos with a grin that could melt glaciers. “Poppy’s the friend who books skydiving at dawn and talks you into it with one eyebrow raise,” Bader laughed during a set visit. A Lake Tahoe native with a theater background from the University of Oregon, Bader infused her audition tape—a self-shot montage of her belting show tunes in a rental car—with the unfiltered joy that won her the role. Blyth, 30, the brooding Coriolanus Snow from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, trades dystopian menace for Alex’s quiet charm. The London-born, Juilliard-trained actor, whose prep included binge-reading Henry and shadowing a Midwest teacher, nails the character’s dry wit. “Alex is the guy who packs three books for a weekend but forgets sunscreen,” Blyth quipped. Their chemistry read—a staged airport reunion that had producers in stitches and tears—sealed the deal. Henry herself gushed on Instagram: “Watching them, I forgot it wasn’t Poppy and Alex. It’s magic.”

The ensemble rounds out with a who’s-who of scene-stealers. Sarah Catherine Hook (The White Lotus) plays Sloane, Poppy’s sardonic bestie and reluctant third wheel on one ill-fated trip; Jameela Jamil (The Good Place) brings her signature sparkle as Iris, Alex’s no-nonsense sister who calls out his pining from the sidelines. Lucien Laviscount (Emily in Paris) charms as a flirtatious Croatian tour guide who sparks Poppy’s wanderlust—and Alex’s jealousy—while Lukas Gage (The White Lotus) pops up as a quirky Palm Springs bartender with impeccable timing. Veterans Alan Ruck (Succession) and Molly Shannon (Saturday Night Live) ground the flashbacks as Alex’s widowed dad and Poppy’s eccentric mom, respectively, adding layers of familial warmth. Filming kicked off in September 2024 across Atlanta (for Ohio interiors), New Orleans (standing in for New York), and international jaunts to Croatia and Mexico, wrapping in a brisk 12 weeks despite a rogue monsoon that turned a beach scene into an impromptu mud-wrestle.

The teaser’s September 30 drop—timed to coincide with Labor Day’s end-of-summer sigh—has been a masterstroke, amassing 15 million views in 48 hours. Set to a dreamy indie-folk playlist featuring Phoebe Bridgers and The Lumineers, the two-minute clip flashes through their vacations in vivid vignettes: Poppy (Bader) cannonballing into a turquoise cenote while Alex (Blyth) clutches a soggy map; a candlelit dinner in Paris where their knees brush under the table; and that fateful Croatia night, rain-slicked and charged, cutting to present-day Poppy’s voicemail plea: “One more trip. For old times’ sake.” Fans lost it. “This is When Harry Met Sally meets Before Sunrise but with better playlists,” one X user raved, racking up 50k likes. Another gushed, “Blyth’s puppy-dog eyes? I’m done. January can’t come soon enough.” Book purists nodded approval at the fidelity—Kuang’s script clocks in at 105 pages, preserving Henry’s nonlinear structure and signature one-liners like Poppy’s “Vacations are for pretending you’re someone else—someone braver.”

Critics who caught early screenings at the American Film Institute Fest whisper of awards buzz: a Golden Globe nod for Best Actress in a Comedy for Bader’s tour-de-force, and a potential Independent Spirit for Haley’s sun-dappled cinematography by veteran Tim Ives. “It’s the rom-com blueprint we’ve been missing—funny, flawed, and fiercely authentic,” one reviewer teased in Variety. Netflix, riding high on rom-com reboots like Anyone But You and Set It Up, slots this as their January tentpole, priming the pump with tie-in merch: limited-edition travel journals stamped with Poppy’s doodles, a Spotify playlist curated by Henry, and virtual watch parties hosted by Bookstagram influencers. The author, whose follow-ups Book Lovers and Happy Place have also snagged adaptations (the former for 20th Century, the latter a Netflix series via Jennifer Lopez’s banner), sees this as a milestone. “Poppy and Alex were my pandemic babies,” she shared at a recent panel. “Seeing them breathe on screen? It’s like sending your kids to college—terrifying and thrilling.”

Beyond the escapism, People We Meet on Vacation taps into timely truths. In an age of ghosting and Grindr fatigue, its celebration of platonic soulmates evolving into partners feels radical. Poppy’s arc—confronting her fear of stagnation—mirrors the post-2020 reevaluation many underwent, while Alex’s quiet unraveling speaks to the exhaustion of always playing it safe. Henry’s prose, laced with pop culture nods (from The Holiday marathons to Keanu Reeves six-degrees games), translates seamlessly to screen, with Blyth and Bader’s improv adding fresh zingers. Off-set, the leads bonded over script tweaks—Bader pushed for more diverse destinations, landing a vibrant Mexico City fiesta scene—while the cast’s group chat buzzes with vacation recs, true to form.

As January 9 approaches, the anticipation builds like a suitcase zipper straining at the seams. Will Poppy and Alex finally cross the friend-zone finish line? (No spoilers, but Henry’s epilogue—a quiet Copenhagen café—promises swoon-worthy closure.) In a streaming landscape bloated with sequels and spinoffs, this original gem shines as a reminder: Sometimes, the best journeys aren’t solo. They’re the ones where your favorite person packs the snacks, holds the map, and steals your heart halfway around the world. Pack your popcorn, cue the passport stamp—People We Meet on Vacation is the trip we all need right now. Who knows? It might just inspire your own grand gesture.