Joey King
Elle Evans
Overview
It’s the summer before Elle heads to college, and she has a secret decision to make. Elle has been accepted into Harvard, where boyfriend Noah is matriculating, and also Berkeley, where her BFF Lee is headed and has to decide if she should stay or not.
Cast
12 people
Joel Courtney
Lee Flynn
Jacob Elordi
Noah Flynn
Molly Ringwald
Mrs. Flynn
Taylor Zakhar Perez
Marco Peña
Reviews
5 min readThe Last Summer of Childhood
I remember the first time I watched The Kissing Booth. It was 2018, and I was sitting on a couch that had seen better days, scrolling through Netflix’s algorithmic suggestions like a detective looking for clues in a case I didn’t know I was solving. The movie popped up, its poster a pastel explosion of teenage longing—Joey King’s Elle Evans mid-laugh, her hair catching the light like a shampoo commercial.
I clicked. Two hours later, I was equal parts charmed and exhausted, the way you feel after eating an entire bag of candy in one sitting. The film was silly, predictable, and yet… it stuck.
Not because it was good, but because it was earnest. It wanted so badly to be loved, and in that desire, it revealed something true about the way we cling to the stories of our youth—even when they no longer fit.
The Kissing Booth 3 arrives three years later, and the question isn’t whether it’s better or worse than its predecessors. The question is whether it knows what it’s become: a relic of a very specific kind of teenage fantasy, one that’s already slipping away.
The trilogy has always been a strange beast—a Netflix original that feels like it was beamed in from an earlier era of teen rom-coms, when the biggest dilemma was whether to kiss your best friend’s brother or the bad boy with a heart of gold. The Kissing Booth 3 doubles down on that nostalgia, not just for its characters, but for the audience. The opening montage is a greatest-hits reel of the first two films: Elle and Noah’s stolen kisses, Lee’s goofy antics, the beach bonfires, the slow-motion runs through the school hallway.
It’s as if the movie is saying, Remember when this was enough? And for a moment, it is. There’s a comfort in the familiarity, like slipping into an old hoodie that still smells like high school.
But then the plot kicks in, and the hoodie starts to itch. Elle, now on the cusp of college, is torn between following her boyfriend Noah to Harvard or her best friend Lee to Berkeley. It’s a classic coming-of-age dilemma, the kind that’s been explored in everything from Grease to Lady Bird.
Full Plot (Spoilers)
Spoiler warning
This section contains the full plot, including major story reveals. Overview above stays spoiler-free.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsThe Kissing Booth 3: Behind the Scenes of the Final Chapter’s Drama and Delays
The Kissing Booth 3 (2021) closed out the beloved Netflix trilogy, but its journey to the screen was anything but smooth. While fans eagerly awaited the conclusion to Elle Evans’ (Joey King) high school romance saga, production faced hurdles, cast shake-ups, latestnetflix.com argues, and mixed reactions that hinted at a franchise on its last legs.
A Long-Awaited Finale—With Last-Minute Changes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANvoblrLXRA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC6vS6H7iqU
The third installment was confirmed in 2020, but filming was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, pushing its release to August 2021 . Unlike the first two films, which were shot back-to-back, The Kissing Booth 3 was filmed separately, adding pressure to recapture the chemistry of its predecessors. Rumors swirled about script rewrites and reshoots, though details remain scarce . Director Vince Marcello, who helmed all three films, kept tight-lipped about behind-the-scenes tensions, but the extended gap between productions fueled speculation that the finale was struggling to find its footing.
Cast Updates and Off-Screen Drama
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-WdfMjorgw
Joey King, Joel Courtney, and Jacob Elordi returned as Elle, Lee, and Noah, but the film introduced new faces—including Taylor Zakhar Perez as Marco, a potential love interest for Elle . Fans were quick to dissect the cast’s real-life dynamics, with some YouTube deep dives claiming off-screen romances influenced on-screen tension . However, these remain unconfirmed, as the actors have largely kept their personal lives private.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCZFhicAtdc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gulT9o1WdM
One notable absence? The franchise’s breakout star, Jacob Elordi, who had moved on to bigger projects (Euphoria, Priscilla). His reduced screen time in The Kissing Booth 3 sparked theories that he was phoning it in—or that the writers were sidelining Noah to wrap up Elle’s arc . Neither Netflix nor the cast addressed these rumors directly.
Fan Backlash and Franchise Fatigue
By the time The Kissing Booth 3 premiered, the series’ reputation had shifted. The first film (2018) was a viral hit, but the sequels faced growing criticism for repetitive plots and lackluster character development. The Kissing Booth 3 holds a 4.2/10 rating on SensCritique, with many calling it a weak send-off 
. Reviewers on YouTube echoed the sentiment, with one calling it "a messy, emotionally exhausting finale" .
The film’s runtime—113 minutes, the longest of the trilogy—did little to win over skeptics . Some fans defended it as a bittersweet goodbye, but others argued the franchise had overstayed its welcome, especially with Elordi’s Noah relegated to a side character.
What’s Next for the Cast?
With the trilogy complete, the core cast has moved on. Joey King has since starred in The In Between and Uglies, while Joel Courtney has taken on indie projects. Jacob Elordi’s career has skyrocketed, leaving little chance of a reunion. Netflix has not announced any spin-offs, though rumors of a Kissing Booth TV series persist—unconfirmed, for now.
For better or worse, The Kissing Booth 3 delivered the closure fans demanded. But with its mixed reception and behind-the-scenes uncertainties, the finale may be remembered more for its drama than its romance.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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