People We Meet on Vacation has kicked off 2026 as an instant classic romance, but fans have many fitting replacements to turn to once the credits roll. Adapted from Emily Henry’s 2021 bestselling novel of the same name, People We Meet on Vacation follows Poppy (Emily Bader) and Alex (Tom Blyth), two friends who avoid their romantic feelings for each other while traveling together every summer.

Aside from People We Meet On Vacation’s talented cast, viewers have celebrated the film’s refreshingly saturated colorgrading, the immediately iconic New Orleans dance scene, and the classic rom-com feel that ran as an undercurrent. While People We Meet on Vacation is already Netflix’s biggest hit of 2026, there are myriad titles that can scratch the same romantic itch for viewers.

About Time (2013)

Rent On Prime Video

After learning that the men in his family can travel into their own pasts, Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) initially decides to use his unusual ability to improve his love life. He soon meets Mary (Rachel McAdams), but repeatedly altering events teaches him that even time travel cannot make a meaningful relationship completely effortless. Written and directed by Richard Curtis, About Time places a playful fantasy premise inside an otherwise intimate story that makes us cry every time.

Like People We Meet on Vacation, the movie understands how heavily romance can depend on timing. Tim may have a supernatural advantage, but he still cannot protect himself or the people he loves from every disappointment, separation, or unexpected change. The fantasy element ultimately makes a surprisingly grounded point: constantly revisiting the past matters less than recognizing the life unfolding in front of you. Both movies find their greatest emotional power in the years surrounding the central romance, not merely the moment when the couple finally gets together.

Always Be My Maybe (2019)

Stream On Netflix

When childhood friends Sasha (Ali Wong) and Marcus (Randall Park) reconnect after 15 years in Always Be My Maybe, there is an immediate connection between them. Their shared history already gives the relationship weight, even if the lives they have built could hardly be more different. Sasha is now a celebrated chef, while Marcus has remained close to home and performs with his local band.

The movie is especially effective at showing how much people can change without entirely escaping who they used to be. Sasha and Marcus must decide whether their childhood bond still belongs in their adult lives or has become something they should finally leave behind. Like People We Meet on Vacation, it understands that the real obstacle in a friends-to-lovers story is not recognizing the attraction. It is figuring out whether two people who followed separate paths can realistically build a life together.

Rye Lane (2023)

Stream On Hulu

Anyone drawn to the bright visuals, playful energy, and conversational chemistry of People We Meet on Vacation should make Rye Lane their next watch. Dom (David Jonsson) and Yas (Vivian Oparah) are two strangers recovering from painful breakups when they meet by chance and spend an increasingly eventful day wandering through South London. What begins as a welcome distraction gradually becomes a connection neither expected.

Director Raine Allen-Miller fills the movie with bold colors, inventive compositions, and a lively rhythm that makes an ordinary afternoon feel like an adventure. While Poppy and Alex’s relationship develops across years of summer trips, Dom and Yas experience an entire romantic turning point in a matter of hours. Both movies capture the excitement of temporarily escaping everyday life with someone who may understand you better than the people you have known for years.

The Worst Person In The World (2021)

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Divided into a prologue, 12 chapters, and an epilogue, The Worst Person in the World follows Julie (Renate Reinsve) across four transformative years as she struggles to settle on a career, a relationship, or even a stable understanding of herself. Joachim Trier’s romantic drama takes a more bittersweet approach than People We Meet on Vacation, refusing to treat finding the right partner as an automatic solution to every other uncertainty in Julie’s life.

The movie is ultimately concerned with timing and the painful possibility of outgrowing someone who once felt essential. Julie’s relationships reflect the different futures she imagines for herself, forcing her to consider what she wants and what she may have already lost. Poppy and Alex face a gentler version of that dilemma, but both stories recognize that love can remain real even when two people want different things from their lives.

Like Crazy (2011)

Rent On Prime Video

Like Crazy follows British exchange student Anna (Felicity Jones) and American college student Jacob (Anton Yelchin), whose relationship is thrown into uncertainty after Anna overstays her student visa and is prevented from returning to the United States. Instead of relying on dramatic twists, the movie focuses on the slow strain created by distance and the separate lives that continue developing while the couple is apart.

Director Drake Doremus worked from a detailed 50-page outline without scripted dialogue, allowing the actors to improvise their conversations. That approach gives the romance an unusually intimate and sometimes uncomfortable realism, particularly when Anna and Jacob struggle to say what they need from each other. Like People We Meet on Vacation, the movie examines a relationship shaped by years of separation and imperfect timing, although its conclusions about whether love can survive that distance are considerably less reassuring.

Set It Up (2018)

Stream On Netflix

Before People We Meet on Vacation, Set It Up was lauded as a return to classic romantic comedies upon its 2018 release. Starring Zoey Deutch as Harper and Glen Powell as Charlie, Set It Up follows the two interns who, as the title suggests, try setting their bosses up without anybody noticing — essentially manufacturing a relationship from the ground up.

There’s a self-reflexive edge to Set It Up, like when Harper has to give Charlie a crash course on the “meet-cute,” that makes the film feel clever, a rom-com that exists in a post-rom-com world. Prior to People We Meet on Vacation, Set It Up was easily Netflix’s best romance movie, making it a must-watch for any Emily Henry fan.

Emma. (2020)

Stream On Peacock

There have been numerous iconic adaptations of Jane Austen’s Emma, ranging from the modernized Clueless to the 1996 film starring Gwyneth Paltrow. Emma. (2020) is a fairly faithful translation of the original text, but what truly makes it sing is the palpable tension between Emma Woodhouse (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Mr. Knightley (Johnny Flynn), longtime friends who discover they want more.

Like People We Meet on Vacation, the male lead yearns, with Knightley delivering an unforgettable speech about his love for Emma. For a period piece romance, Emma feels surprisingly modern, with artistic cinematography and bright colors preventing it from ever feeling boring. As such, fans of People We Meet on Vacation’s visual effects must watch Emma., if only for aesthetics.

(500) Days of Summer (2009)

Stream On Hoopla

(500) Days of Summer isn’t so much a rom-com but rather a bittersweet tale of two people simply not being right for each other. Many movie couples overcome the odds to find true love, but the 2009 film is a reminder that real life is much messier — even messier than the relationship between Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer (Zooey Deschanel).

From (500) Days of Summer’s non-linear timeline to the couple realizing they ruined their friendship for nothing, the iconic drama feels like a world where People We Meet on Vacation ended in heartbreak. For that very reason, however, (500) Days of Summer is essential viewing for anyone who can’t get over the one that got away.

Palm Springs (2020)

Stream On Hulu

After over a century of filmmaking, it’s difficult to make a story that feels truly unique, but 2020’s Palm Springs seamlessly blends traditional romance with a sci-fi time loop story. As they relive the same wedding over and over again, Nyles (Andy Samberg) and Sarah (Cristin Milioti) slowly fall in love and turn their immortal trap into a romantic vacation.

Nyles and Sarah have intense romance movie chemistry, but what makes Palm Springs a fitting replacement for People We Meet on Vacation is far more than the bright, summery setting. Both Nyles and Sarah are deeply flawed and, for that reason, nearly abandon their relationship. Thankfully, a bout of bravery saves their love story and resets the time loop for good.

Before Sunrise (1995)

Rent On Prime Video

The Before series is one of the most iconic movie trilogies of all time, and it starts with 1995’s Before Sunrise. When Jesse (Ethan Hawke) meets Céline (Julie Delpy) aboard a European train, the two strangers spontaneously agree to spend one night together in Vienna, Austria. As they amble around the city, the pair have intimate, soul-baring conversations.

At once, there’s a resignation and feeling of hope to Before Sunrise, with the couple seemingly both doomed and fated to be together forever. The two sequel films provide necessary closure, but there’s something irreplaceable about the sheer possibility of Before Sunrise. For one night only, Jesse and Céline hang on the very precipice of true love.