Everything we know about Netflix’s People We Meet On Vacation adaptation

Don’t put your passports away yet, Netflix has finally given a release date for their screen adaptation of Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation. In honour of this news, here’s a rundown of everything we know so far about the highly anticipated film.

The Netflix adaptation, directed by Brett Hadley, is due to be released on the streaming platform on 9th January 2026 (surely I’m not the only person wondering if the January date is a nod to the protagonist of Beach Read…). This isn’t Hadley’s first rodeo with book-to-film adaptations, notably having directed Netflix’s 2020 adaptation of Jennifer Niven’s All The Bright Places. 

For anyone unfamiliar, People We Meet on Vacation (known as You and Me on Vacation to UK readers) follows best friends Poppy and Alex across a decade of summers. At the commencement of the novel, Poppy and Alex have stopped speaking (for reasons unknown to us), until Poppy invites him on one last holiday to rekindle their friendship. 

The adaptation will star Emily Bader (My Lady Jane) and Tom Bylth (The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes) as the beloved couple, with Henry herself telling Netflix she “got so emotional” watching their chemistry read. Whilst Bader is no stranger to being a romantic lead, Blyth’s casting will be welcome news to anyone harbouring a (slightly problematic) crush on him as Coriolanus Snow. Alongside the main pair, the film will feature co-stars such as Jameela Jamil (The Good Place), Lukas Gage (You), and Sarah Catherine Cook (First Kill). 

The closest we have to a trailer thus far is the audio clip posted by Netflix, where we get our first glimpse of dialogue between the two main characters. If this clip is anything to go by, we can remain hopeful that the chemistry from the novel will translate onto screen.

We do, as always, have a few photos taken by onlookers when filming was taking place last year. One specific set of photos, taken during filming in New Orleans, does at least confirm that producers have stayed true to Poppy’s iconic fashion sense from the books. The shiny blue trousers from these photos may be dividing people, but I have faith given that Colin Wilkes was also costume designer for Palm Springs (2020), so her qualifications for dressing a summer romance are clear.

So for now this is all we have about the adaptation, but with a date and first clip being released, it’s only a matter of time before a full trailer is upon us. There is also still plenty of time to pick up the book before this and, whilst it’s not my personal Emily Henry favourite, it is most definitely worth a read for anyone wanting a break from academic journals.