Story

School’s out for summer. For high school graduates Elle (Joey King) and bestie Lee (Joel Courtney), it’s going to be their biggest summer ever before they’re off to college. They decide to grab their respective partners, Noah (Jacob Elordi) and Rachel (Meganne Young), and spend the summer at Lee and Noah’s family beach house.

As usual, Elle has difficult decisions to make. She must decide whether to go to Harvard and move in with boyfriend Noah, or go to Berkeley with bestie Lee. She also has relationship issues to handle, as she tries to find the right balance of working through a bucket list with Lee and spending quality time with Noah.

Just to make things even more complicated, handsome and charming Marco (Taylor Zakhar Perez) is also back on the scene and ready to win Elle’s heart.

Themes

Teenage romance; high school comedy; rich kid lifestyle; friendship; coming of age; dancing

Violence

The Kissing Booth 3 has some violence. For example:

• Noah provokes Marco, and then Marco punches Noah in the face.
• Characters drive go-karts aggressively, which causes others to crash.

Sexual references

The Kissing Booth 3 has some sexual references. For example, it’s implied that Elle and Noah have sex.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

The Kissing Booth 3 shows some use of substances. For example:

• Underage characters drink too much.
• Teenagers seem drunk and hungover.

Nudity and sexual activity

The Kissing Booth 3 has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:

• Noah and Elle kiss and seem to be sexually active.
• Teenage couples share bedrooms.

Product placement

There’s no product placement in The Kissing Booth 3.

Coarse language

The Kissing Booth 3 has frequent coarse language.

Ideas to discuss with your children

The Kissing Booth 3 is the third instalment of the teenage romantic comedy series The Kissing Booth, based on Beth Reekle’s book series of the same title. Like its two predecessors, The Kissing Booth 3 is packed with slapstick humour and stereotypes of rich Los Angeles white high school kids.

The Kissing Booth 3 is possibly the tamest of this franchise, although it still features underage drinking and teenagers engaging in sexual activities. The focus is mainly on Elle trying to negotiate other people’s needs, as well as her own. Elle struggles with knowing what and how to prioritise, wavering between selfless and selfish behaviour and behaving dishonestly to postpone difficult confrontations. At least, the movie shows people being called out on bad choices or behaviour. Elle and Noah also seem to make some progress in their development and growth. And in the end, Elle makes a sensible and informed decision independent of the male characters in her life.

Because of these mature themes as well as its coarse language, The Kissing Booth 3 is unsuitable for children under 13 years. We also recommend parental guidance for children aged 13-15 years.

The main messages from The Kissing Booth 3 are that life and relationships are full of tricky decisions, and that it’s important to find out what you actually want in life.

Values in The Kissing Booth 3 that you could reinforce with your children include honesty; conflict resolution; open and honest communication; friendship; mature, independent and informed decision-making; responsible, age-appropriate behaviour; and the pursuit of personal dreams.

The Kissing Booth 3 could also give you the chance to talk with your children about issues like the following:

• Being honest – for example, Elle isn’t always honest, partly because she wants to avoid difficult conversations and conflict. But this backfires, causing even more drama and disappointment. Eventually Elle learns that she must take responsibility and face challenges.
• Finding out who you are and what you want to be, independent of other people’s expectations.