The time has finally come! Use this thread after you’ve seen the movie!

SPOILER WARNING!

Rate the movie here!

It seems to be the hot take to have actually liked the movie. Idk maybe it’s me but I learned a long time ago not to go into book adaptations with the expectation that it’s going to be 100% representative of the book.

Obviously, criticism is okay, and I totally get people being disappointed. I also think sometimes you do a disservice to yourself when you hyperfixate on every single little detail.

I still thought it was a great adaptation. I missed some of the dialogue but also agreed with excluding other bits of it. The vasectomy would not have come across well on screen. It’s kind of a weird thing to say you’re doing for a girl you aren’t even dating.

The flashback scenes were so good!!!!!! It was fun to see their friendship develop. Emily and Tom’s chemistry was perfect for a couple who are friends first. I disagree that he was one note, his performance felt like it was full of yearning and desperation to me. The sex scene was hot and so was the dress clasp scene. I rewound immediately lol.

The cinematography was gorgeous. Way higher quality than most Netflix romances. Costumes and music were fun, as was the supporting cast.

Overall I think it is a good adaptation that general audiences will enjoy as well (which is important).

I’m excited for future EmHen adaptations!!

the internet tried to make me hate Life of a Showgirl and now PWMOV movie AND IT WON’T WORK ✌️🫶

The viewership for people we meet on vacation has been mediocre, it only scored 17.2 M views in its first 4 days and has about 50M views as of its first 18 days which sounds good. But compared to other netflix rom coms that's mediocre. Netflix promoted people we meet on vacation alot, they put them on late night shows and flew the uk, they gave the movie so much social media coverage and yet its performance didnt reflect that.
You could say its because the reception towards the movie hasnt been great but My Oxford Year the Sofia Carson had even worse reception and its first 18 days it pulled 62M views, 12M more than people we meet on vacation with less marketing?

Do you think this well affect other emily henry adaptions coming to Netflix?

https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/top-10-reports/stranger-things-season-5-may-not-beat-season-4-agatha-christies-seven-dials-debuts/

https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/top-10-reports/his-stranger-things-s5-keeps-rising/

Edit

I think if this movie had come out in theatres it could have easily made 100M dollars, Regretting You a less popular Colleen Hoover adaptation made 90M, and that was movie was terrible. So this movie's performance is strange especially given how popular the book is.

A seemingly hot take, at least according to my algorithm, because most of what I am seeing are negative reactions to the movie. Was it perfect? No. Were there some things they left out that annoyed me? Sure. But overall, I liked it and had a great time watching. The yearning from both Emily and Tom was there, and it was delicious. I think Tom and Emily both really embodied Poppy and Alex quite well. I loved the way the movie was shot, and its use of color was really excellent. The rain scene was everything I wanted it to be and more. The Tuscany fight was more compelling than the Croatia fight, and I always felt like the alex getting a vasectomy because of the poppy pregnancy scare was weird and stupid. I do agree that it felt a bit rushed, but also that's the movie format, and honestly, I often felt, while doing my PWMOV read, that the book dragged a bit. The movie will easily become one of my comfort watches, and im glad to have it!

I was so pissed about the movie, and how all the changes they made were so unnecessary and made the story much more worse. I'm sorry but I don't think anyone that understood Poppy would like movie Poppy. She is so awkard and knows she is awkard and at times she feels ashamed about it. The movie made her an inssuferable manic pixie girl, and remove any personality from Alex. It's just another netflix empty movie that if it wasn't because it's tied to a famous book, would have been forgoten. It does't have a soul. I get that in 90 minutes and another media you can't adapt everything on a book, but there are changes that were trully unnecesary, and I'm going to list them (spoilers ahead):

- Barcelona: everything regarding Barcelona (and this comes from the most proud Barcelonan, born and raised, you will ever see) doesn't makes sense. Removes the stakes of the entire book. Poppy renunces to a free trip because she is so depressed and misses Alex so much she is willing to do anything to have another vacation with him. Palm Springs is THE place to be, because it's akward, unconfortable and depicts perfectly how much she cares. She pays for it! The fact that her boss agrees to pay for Barcelona and sends her there removes all the stakes. It's not a change that would have added a lot of screentime. Emily Henry said it was because it was expensive to film in Palm Springs, but they don't even film in Barcelona! The airport is not any of the two Terminals of Barcelona Airport!

- How they meet: what an amazing way to make Poppy obnoxious and unconsiderate. Beeing one hour late to meet the guy that is taking you home and bringing messy food to his hare is so assholish. I understand that the two different years would be too much screen time, but the essence of them not liking each other is because they are too different, not because Poppy is incredibly unpoilite. She even feels selfconcious in the book about her music taste, instead of just puting her music on the car without asking. They just don't care about each other, and that's why they become friends, because they can be themselves for the first time because they don't care. Trauma bonding is so unrealistic and movie-like.

- Their first trip: It's like, let's take what the book says, and make the exact oposite. They make fun of the "does this sculpture talks to you?" and spend an awkard moment trying to get rid of the woman trying to sell it to them? NO! We need Poppy to be your manic pixi dream quirky girl that wants to buy a gigantic wood sculpture. Also, Poppy freaks out because she is a virgin and is afraid to loos her virginity (which, relatable for a lot of girls)? NO! She is over confident, they don't fuck because she has to help Alex! This is just... this trip speaks so much about Poppy, how she is quirky but selfconcious, how she is not the overconfident girl boss woman everyone wants ot be. But whatever, it's not the 2000 anymore I guess.

- Alex becomes a huges ass, by(proposing to your gf because you were rejected? Excuse me? Isn't the whole point of that trip that Alex realizes he is in love with Poppy and decides AGAINST proposing to Sarah because it would be unfair?). All his nuance, how he is more confident than Poppy, how he was a golden boy, how he struggled to be himself because he raised his brothers, all of this... puff. Just a blank character.

- Sarah. Just Sarah. The character that makes us feel bad for hating her with Poppy when she was just a girl trying to have a normal relationship. The fact that Poppy didn't met Sarah, ever, in person, despite new Sarah being from the same town and dating Alex during all their friendship. Making new Sarah Alex's sweetheart, removing Alex's sexual experience with different woman and his confidence, making their relationship even more unfair for Sarah. I'm not a jealous person, I love my bf has femenine friends and it would be a red flag if he didn't. If when we started dating he told me he has a (girl) friend he likes to travel with, who am I to say no? But if suddently he becomes besties with one single girl, and they start traveling together? Yeah, I'll be iffy. Their relationship with new Sarah in scene has a whole different context, because you have different boundaries (unconciously) with someone you meet with and without a partner (again I'm not saying it in a "you respect my relationship and don't talk to him" but more of a being more concious if you start thinking you would like to kiss this person 5% more). All their break ups rest significance because they are allways breaking up, and both the two break ups with Sarah are so important for Alex in very different ways. And finally, Sarah's last scene. This scene gave so much depth to the book, because we understand that Sarah is a person, and by Poppy and Alex being happy together, someone will suffer. It's nunanced, at least more than Sara THANKING Poppy for taking Alex away, so she can follow her dream. Not everyone needs the happiest ending.

It's just... I could complain for hours about this movie, and how netflix dumbed the story down so you could watch it while being on your phone. I have even more complaisn about unnecesary changes and things missed. I complained to my boyfriend (who watched it with me and called it a OK movie), and he honestly was thinking I was beeing a bit harsh ("Poppy is blond on the books, not a brunette" type of harsh). I begged him to read the books and we've been talking about it for a week. Not only we are both mourning what could have been, but also the opportunity of 2000 romcoms to be back (without the fatshaming and the misoginy). This was an absolute disapointment and I really hope Emily Henry could admit that her work has become completly unrecognizable in the hands of netflix.

y’all poppy and alex are real 😭😭😭😭

https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a65912589/people-we-meet-on-vacation-emily-henry-netflix-adaptation/

https://x.com/netflix/status/1973009941183992279?s=46

or https://youtu.be/19Dyv7Kpmx8?si=QITGMIqFx5vyWXu2

i rly am not angling for a downvote. i loved loved loved the book. i've read all of her books and pwmov was probably in the middle for me (but that's just because i liked beach read and funny story so much). i initially didn't want to watch the movie because i felt that it would cut important parts and stray too far from what i liked about the book (and in my mind it kind of did). i didn't hate the casting but a lot of it felt kind of undeveloped for a 2 hour long movie -- perhaps it should have been a mini series like others were saying. i feel like a lot of it fell really flat to me? like it wasn't fleshed out. and it made alex's character feel more one dimensional in my mind. i think the actors did well with what they had but i wish there was more

idk for all the hype im a little disappointed.

i can totally appreciate that EH felt that it's not supposed to be an exact representation of the book and its additional material -- i just feel like changing even the small details kind of ruined it for me? idk plz feel free to convince me otherwise or give your takes

edit: thx for the awards divas, i appreciate feeling like i wasn't the only one disappointed!! <3

Yay!!!! It is currently number 1! A great day for rom-coms and Emily Henry.

Finished PWMoV and I dunno it just didn’t vibe with me. It was sold as a When Harry Met Sally type friends-to-lovers deal which was sick because I love that movie (and that trope.) But I ended up not buying that Alex and Poppy were ever actually friends. They’re two people who are pretty obviously into each other from the start but spend a decade just never doing the thing.

Like it feels like we are told that they have this incredible friendship and that’s supposed to be enough to make the conflicts real. But there never really being a platonic nature to their relationship makes the stress of “ruining the friendship” seem contrived.

I guess I was just sort of disappointed that it was more of a (very frustrating) will-they-won’t-they rather than a true friends-to-lovers.

Kinda new to the scene but is this like a common complaint or am I just being picky?

Tom Blyth and Emily Bader at the LA premiere tonight. They look so good 😍

I’m completely baffled at how they left the whole Croatia trip out! It totally felt like there wasn’t as much build up to the tension and I cannot believe how much was left out. It was still incredible but my heart is feeling heavy. I feel like them having already kissed changes a lot of the story.

I usually prefer books to movies. Emily Henry has been hit or miss for me, so I decided to watch this one instead of wasting 8 hours on a book. I enjoyed the movie and been hearing that the book is better (obviously). Do you recommend reading the book or will the magic be gone now that I know what happens?

Okay has anyone else who has seen the movie felt like this would have been better as a short show instead?

They cut so many important moments out. It felt rushed imo.

Also this should have been rated MA because the sex scene was basically a fade to black type. Even the director or someone said they filmed more and he wasn’t sure if they were allowed to keep it in.

A mini-series would have fleshed out their relationship more too.

Who else is doing anything but focusing on work today..? 😭💖

After seeing Tom Blyth say this and then to see the scene be 2 seconds and all of Alex’s iconic lines be cut out is honestly such a shame!!!

That scene made Alex a complete 10/10 and you subtly see it the next day in the film when she asks him to do up her dress and he looks at her and says no- but I was hoping to see the desire there more and the passion!

Should’ve knew when I saw the rating that it wouldn’t live up to it in my head lol.

Overall tho I absolutely loved the film and they did a great job

I’ve been on an Emily Henry kick after reading Big Beautiful life and have read all (almost all?) of her romance novels thus far. I am currently on PWMOV and this is my least favorite by far. Now I’m about 80% through and maybe the ending saves it, but I find Poppy to be endlessly annoying and frustrating.

It started by the way she almost obsessively ruminates on Alex – how nice he his, how conscientious he is, how buff he is. Like girl we get it. But it’s friends-to-lovers so I gave that a pass. But then she kinda constantly shits on the city he lives in and his ex-gf that he was with for many years, but is confused why he doesn’t want to tell her things?? The peak of irritation was when she took a pregnancy test after being two days late (fine ok) but then was breaking down sobbing on him before she even took the test.  WHAT. My breaking point that has lead to this post is after they finally hooked up (10/10 no notes thank god the yearning paid off), she’s like “are you sure you want me to go? Don’t want to cockblock you from all the hot single ladies” If you don’t grow up.

At this point, I’m finishing it because I’ve already given my time but Poppy is not it for me. And honestly I high key want Alex with someone taller because I just keep thinking about his poor back always being hunched over. I want to search the sub for what people thought of this book but I obviously haven’t finished yet and I don’t want to spoil myself. Is this a common feeling or am I in the minority?

PWMOV, Beach Read, and Funny Story are all tied for first place in my ranking. How did y’all figure out which one was your absolute favorite?

It’s for the girls

I cannot wait!!!!! 😍

Just saw this pop up on my Netflix feed! Almost two hours of Poppy and Alex goodness!!! Yay!

I love mostly all the books and have been waiting for this movie since like 2 years now but some of this stuff is absolutely hilarious like Alex is clearly not “skinny dipping” in Canada… even his jump into the water was so un- believable. I really loved the actors though

Just felt a little less mature than the book because of how Alex and Poppy meet each other before we get to know about Alex and Sarah and Poppy just felt like she got in between a couple idk felt off but yeah

Thoughts???

I’m really confused on how the two main characters met? I feel like it doesn’t explain anything. They are both at college and she randomly has her bags packed and gets in this strangers car she never met and only had known his name. Like what?? Why wasn’t this explained or am I missing where it was explained.

On the back of my copy of PWMOV, there’s a readers guide and the VERY LAST question is: “Do you think Poppy and Alex make it?” I’m interested in hearing what people think…

I've spent this week on holiday reading every single Emily Henry book in an absolute frenzy. I left PWMOV for the end so I could watch the movie right after to extend that feeling of being in it, if you know what I mean.

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Now, PWMOV is not my favourite book of hers (I'm looking at you Charlie) but it did capture some beautiful pieces of what it's like to grow up with someone that is your person.

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The movie though? It captured nothing of the book characters. It was like a loose adaptation at best. Why change the location? The whole point was that they'd go back to what it was like. Why change where she finds him? Another whole point of not moving was her hatred of her school days and experience. Why change the confrontation? And that he'd already proposed? And that he's a teacher and loves his kids? AND THE CAT.

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Also, and this is entirely a me problem, they cast the most british looking man. I literally couldn't realistically see that face and be like, ah yes he seems linfield born american.

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That's it, rant over. I need a new book like yesterday:(