In the world of romantic comedies, few moments are as iconic as the heartfelt, sweeping declarations of love. Billy Crystal set a high bar in When Harry Met Sally with his memorable list of reasons for loving Meg Ryan. Ryan Reynolds captured hearts in The Proposal with his plea for Sandra Bullock’s hand in marriage, marking the start of their real romance. Meanwhile, Colin Firth charmingly demonstrated that even a list of flaws can be endearing in Bridget Jones’s Diary, when he told Renée Zellweger he liked her just as she was.

Adding to this storied tradition is the latest Netflix romantic comedy, People We Meet on Vacation, which started streaming last Friday. This film breaks new ground by featuring a woman who delivers the pivotal romantic monologue, turning the tables and pursuing the man she loves.

Helmed by director Brett Haley and crafted by screenwriters Yulin Kuang, Amos Vernon, and Nunzio Randazzo, People We Meet on Vacation is a much-anticipated adaptation of Emily Henry’s best-selling novel from 2021. The film stars Emily Bader, widely recognized from the Amazon series My Lady Jane, as Poppy Wright, a spirited travel journalist. Poppy shares her travel adventures each summer with her tightly wound best friend Alex, portrayed by Hunger Games newcomer Tom Blyth. Although they claim to be just friends, years of shared journeys eventually lead them to fall for each other.

While Emily Bader’s character isn’t the first female lead to deliver a grand romantic speech, it remains a captivating twist. Iconic moments from Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You, Katherine Heigl in 27 Dresses, and Julia Roberts in Notting Hill have left lasting impressions. Yet, Poppy’s chase after Alex in People We Meet on Vacation still manages to surprise and delight audiences.

The turning point unfolds when Poppy and Alex finally connect at Alex’s brother’s wedding. However, when Alex questions their future, Poppy hesitates, leading Alex to believe she’ll never commit. Heartbroken, he leaves, prompting Poppy to undergo a period of introspection. She quits her job and travels to Ohio, showing up at Alex’s door, only to find him heading out for a run with earbuds on. Undeterred by her dislike for running, Poppy takes off after him, determined to declare her love.

Poppy can’t keep pace with Alex, but she gets lucky—he stops for a red light. Finally, she gets close enough for him to hear her shouts. They stand, facing each other, in the median of the crosswalk, with cars whizzing by. Poppy catches her breath. Then, finally, she starts to speak.

“I always felt like if I stayed in one place too long, everyone would see that I’m too much. Even you,” Poppy starts. “So one week a year with you—it was safe. It’s all that I thought that I could have. But I love you. I’m always gonna love you. So there’s not one thing, in my whole life, that I wouldn’t give up to build something new with you. Because when I’m sad or sick, you’re all I want. And when I’m happy, you make me so much happier.”

At this point, Poppy’s voice cracks and breaks. But she keeps going. Her big speech ain’t over yet.

“And I know I have a lot of things I gotta figure out,” Poppy continues, through tears.” But if there’s one thing that I know, it’s that wherever you are in the world, that’s where I belong. You’re not a vacation to me, Alex. You’re home. And I think that I’m that for you too.”

When Alex doesn’t immediately respond, Poppy concludes her speech in a typical charming, awkward, Poppy-way. “You can… You can talk now. Please talk now.”

But Alex doesn’t have anything to say, because Poppy has said it all. Instead, he pulls her in for a big, sweeping kiss.

Though she is not the first rom-com woman to deliver the romantic monologue, there is something about Poppy’s speech—the length, the delivery, the running lead-up, the reaction shots from Alex—that feels like a very intentional gender-swap. Certainly, Poppy’s running echoes Harry jogging through the New York City streets on New Year’s Eve, racing to reach Sally before midnight. By calling attention to this purposeful reversal, the movie challenges audiences to consider how—even in a genre often written by and for women— women are often portrayed as the more passive, less-nuanced character.

In fact, the idea of a gender-flipped When Harry Met Sally was author Emily Henry’s initial inspiration for the People We Meet on Vacation book.

“I wanted to try to do sort of a gender-flipped version of that in which the female lead would be the Harry character,” Henry explained in an interview for the People We Meet on Vacation press notes. “She’s a bit much, you could say, and she’s a little bit flighty and a bit more cynical in the beginning. Then our Sally character is the male lead, someone who’s a little bit more fastidious about how he likes things, but also a true romantic deep down who wants this lasting, stable, beautiful love.”

When asked about getting to play the Meg Ryan to Bader’s Billy Crystal during that monologue, Blyth told Decider, “We do expect it to be Alex who runs after Poppy and delivers the big speech, because that is the gender norm that’s been set in film over the decades. It’s so nice to be at a time when when we’re actually experimenting with flipping that. Especially with a character like Poppy—she’s so expressive. She’s so free with her feelings, and Alex isn’t. Getting to hear her break down his wall, him pulling her in close, and that feeling that they’re going to have a happy ever after—it’s a nice moment.”

It’s also, of course, a great acting reel moment for Bader, who absolutely crushes her speech. It’s the kind of speech that leads to roles in Oscar-bait dramas—again, often a pipeline for male rom-com leads like Colin Firth, Tom Hanks, and Ryan Gosling. Here’s to hoping for the same for Bader, and for many more romantic speeches from rom-com leading ladies to come.