By Hudson Moura
Brett Haley’s adaptation of Emily Henry’s bestseller is an unabashedly cozy romcom that trusts the genre’s oldest tools—opposites attract, near-miss timing, and memory as a map of desire. Poppy (Emily Bader), a free-spirited travel-mag journalist, and Alex (Tom Blyth), her careful, bookish counterweight, meet in college and make a pact: a trip together every summer. Reunited years later in Spain for a family wedding—of course they land at the airport at the same time—the film toggles between their awkward present and eight sun-drenched flashbacks (Canada, New Orleans, a “luminously shot” Norway) that chart how banter becomes complicity and, eventually, the admission that “you’re not vacation for me—you’re home.”
Haley stages the material with clean, unobtrusive craft: postcard locales, soft natural light, needle drops that cue feeling rather than complicate it, and editing that lets the repartee breathe. Bader and Blyth have easy, credible chemistry—the film’s chief asset—and the travelogue structure proves a smart adaptation choice. Instead of a single melodramatic rupture, we get a collage of small decisions (missed cabs, bad rentals, inside jokes) that shows how affection actually accumulates.
The limit is also clear: the conflicts are gentle and the stakes deliberately low, so the third act resolves as comfort more than catharsis. Viewers seeking sharper dramatic valleys may find the highs a little soft. Yet the film knows exactly what it is—a space of reassurance where, to paraphrase Deleuze, clichés function as shared social habits rather than lazy shortcuts. On those terms, it’s disarmingly pleasant: charming leads, polished craft, and a sincere belief in second chances.
If you like your romances glossy, globe-trotting, and emotionally legible, this Netflix release delivers the holiday it promises—even if it rarely strays off the well-worn path.
Rating: 2.8/5