The final chapter in Elle, Noah and Lee’s teenage lives comes to a fairly satisfying conclusion. The Kissing Booth (2018) told the story of teenager, Elle’s (Joey King) love for bad boy, Noah, (Jacob Elordi) and lifelong friendship with his brother, Lee (Joel Courtney). Though panned by critics for being regressive and clichéd, it was a commercial success. The sequel, The Kissing Booth 2 (2020) while remaining largely clichéd, was a small improvement on the first movie. And The Kissing Booth 3 , continues the good work by redeeming itself in tiny, controlled doses, as if the viewers will not be able to take a dramatic turn for the better.
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It is their last summer before Elle, Lee, and his girlfriend, Rachel, (Meganne Young), head off to college. It is the time of great change, including Noah and Lee’s parents (Molly Ringwald and Morné Visser) planning to sell the beach house and Elle’s dad, Mike, (Stephen Jennings) starting to date again.
- Director: Vince Marcello
- Cast: Joey King, Joel Courtney, Jacob Elordi, Taylor Zakhar Perez, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Meganne Young, Molly Ringwald
- Story line: Elle, Noah, Lee and Rachel want to make this last summer count, before heading out to college
- Duration: 113 minutes
Elle has to decide which school to go to — Harvard — to be with Noah, who has already started looking for off-campus apartments for them, or Berkeley as she and Lee had decided on forever. There is another list; this time one of mad summer activities, which Lee and Elle had made as children.
With the beach house being sold, the foursome convinces the parents that they would take care of the house and pack it up. The trusting parents agree to let them do just that. Trouble comes in the form of The Kissing Booth 2 ’s hot transfer student, Marco, (Taylor Zakhar Perez) and Chloe (Maisie Richardson-Sellers)
After tears, pop songs, flash mobs and a live-action Mario go-kart race, (which was kind of fun) all is sorted satisfactorily in the end. Based on books by Beth Reekles, The Kissing Booth 3 was shot back-to-back with the second movie with everyone reprising their roles, including director Vince Marcello. While it is nowhere near a good movie, it is not so bad that you want to poke your eyes out or bite your arm. Watching beautiful people frolic in the sun, sea and sand is definitely not a crime.
The Kissing Booth 3 is currently streaming on Netflix
