The final movie in Netflix's Kissing Booth series is a disappointing end to the series—lacking the charm that made the series a success.
A Little Background
The Kissing Booth series is based on the Wattpad novel of the same name by author Beth Reekles. With the first Kissing Booth movie being a surprise hit for Netflix, they greenlit another two movies in the series. The Kissing Booth 2 premiered In July 2020 and became the most-streamed movie on Netflix during its first weekend. The third movie, The Kissing Booth 3: One Last Time, picks up where the last one left off—the summer before Noah, Elle, and Lee head to college.
The Movie
The movie follows Elle as she tries to balance her time between her boyfriend, Noah, and her best friend, Lee, in addition to a busy summer job and family responsibilities. She seems to disappoint everyone along the way, and finds herself floundering.
While Elle decides between going to Berkley with Lee or Harvard with Noah, we get snippets of Elle's hectic life split between social obligations, chores, and work. Screen time for Lee or Noah is surprisingly limited, considering the importance of both characters in the previous movies. Noah's friend Chloe is forced back into the plot, but we doubt anyone was actually hoping for her return.
As the movie goes on, it becomes clear that we're not in for a hopeful, idealistic ending to this trilogy. If there's one thing we don't want in our teen romance movies, it's realism with a heavy dose of responsibility, disappointments, family drama, and financial stress. The final film feels jaded, sullied on the ideas of teen love and friendship that powered the first movie (and the book it was based on). This is the ending that a disenchanted adult would write, which is exactly the opposite of the teen optimism with which the Wattpad book was written.
Joey King (Elle) and Joel Courtney (Lee) continue to be the bright points in the movie, which otherwise lacks the youthful exuberance of its predecessors. Jacob Elordi fails to bring that same energy to his character Noah, who comes off more like a grumpy old man than a teen boy. We were pleased to see the return of Taylor Zakhar Perez as competing love interest Marco, who may have been the most well developed character through the course of the movie.
Is it Worth a Watch?
One last time? No thanks. The first two movies were delightful romps that did exactly what you would want out of a teen movie. The Kissing Booth 3, however, fails to hit those same notes. The loveableness of Beth Reekles's series is lost in this pessimistic, too-adult-for-its-own-good coming of age story that lacks the bright-eyed perspective and romance that were responsible for its original success. Rewatch the first movie instead.
The Kissing Booth 3
Watch the Movie → Netflix
Read the Book → Amazon
The Kissing Booth 2
Watch the Movie → Netflix
Read the Book → Wattpad
The Kissing Booth (Original)
Watch the Movie → Netflix
Read the Book → Wattpad
What did you think of the final Kissing Booth movie? Tell us in the comments!