Every Kissing Booth Movie Ranked From Worst To Best

Netflix has wrapped up its The Kissing Booth trilogy — so how do all three films in the franchise rank? Based on the novels of the same name written by Beth Reekles, The Kissing Booth follows Elle Evans (Joey King) as she navigates her life through her transitional phase in becoming a full-fledged adult. In her journey, she is joined by her best friend, Lee (Joel Courtney), and his brother, Noah Flynn (Jacob Elordi), who eventually becomes her romantic interest.

The first installment, The Kissing Booth, premiered in 2018, kicking off the streaming platform’s rom-com trend. It was followed by the debut of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before — another YA story based on Jenny Han’s novels. Two years later in 2020, Netflix released the sequel The Kissing Booth 2. The follow-up was bigger than the original, with a complicated plot brought about by its expanded cast. In it, Elle and Noah deal with maintaining a long-distance relationship as the latter moves to Boston to start college at Harvard. This made Elle much more reliant on Lee, but he had begun his own romance with Rachel (Meganne Young). So, Elle ended up spending extended periods of time with Marco (Taylor Zakhar Perez), effectively creating a love triangle. In the end, everything was sorted out: in The Kissing Booth 2‘s ending, Elle and Noah got back together and promised to better understand each other.

Just a year after the sequel debuted, Netflix released The Kissing Booth 3 on August 11, 2021. In it, the gang spends one final summer together before Elle, Lee, and Rachel start college — but what was going to be their best break ever was mired with various personal issues. With the franchise now finished, we look back on the YA series and determine how the movies rank, from worst to best.

3. The Kissing Booth 3

When The Kissing Booth 2 finished, many assumed its sequel would be about Elle’s conflict about where to go to college. She delayed making a decision and kept the information that she was accepted by both U.C. Berkeley and Harvard from Lee and Noah to maintain the peace among them. But, this plot point was quickly lost in the mix early on in The Kissing Booth 3. Instead, it continued to introduce new smaller storylines that made its overall arc unnecessarily complicated and bloated. That included the Flynn boys competing for her attention, all while Marco once again tried creeping his way back into her life. Meanwhile, her dad had re-entered the dating scene, which made her uneasy and protective.

It’s worth noting, however, that almost all of Elle’s problems could’ve been prevented if she had better communicated her feelings — a lesson she should have learned follow The Kissing Booth 2. The third movie depicted her as hopelessly ragged throughout, but her issues had very simple solutions: She could’ve sat down with Noah and Lee to explain her schedule so they both would know how busy she was; she could’ve been more straightforward with Marco instead of subtly leading him on; and, she could’ve been honest with her dad about her thoughts regarding his love life. The Kissing Booth 3 was so crammed that it didn’t have time to address all its plotlines, and instead, fast-forwarded through them by executing a six-year time jump. After that, every problem had been miraculously resolved, with Elle and Noah riding off into the California sunset together. Somehow, it would’ve been better had they focused on the film’s original conflict — where would Elle go to college?

2. The Kissing Booth 2

The original The Kissing Booth installment set off the events of its predecessor where Elle and Noah enter a long-distance relationship. After straightening things out with Lee regarding dating his brother, the new couple decided to be together amidst Noah’s impending move to Boston for college. They mostly made it work at the beginning, but things started to spiral when their individual lives got in the way. But, what makes The Kissing Booth 2 better than its follow-up is that it did have a meaty overall plot. Seeing Elle get increasingly frustrated about not being able to talk to Noah made sense — after all, they’re essentially still in the honeymoon stage of their romance and it would be challenging for her that he wasn’t as accessible as he had been previously. Lee becoming busy with his own girlfriend ultimately drove Elle into the arms of Marco, who attempted to win her over — a twist that’s mostly expected but still worked.

What bogs The Kissing Booth 2‘s story down, however, is the lack of growth for its characters. Elle and Noah didn’t get past their issues because they hashed it out, which is what should have occurred. Instead, the resolution was wrapped up in a cliched last-minute reunion without properly addressing the root of their problems: poor communication skills from both sides. Elle never learned to voice out her thoughts, choosing to keep her conflict about where to go for college to herself, hoping she could resolve it on her own. Marco never stopped pining for Elle, even though she already chose her boyfriend over him. These are the reasons why it felt like The Kissing Booth 3 was just a rehash of its predecessor: no one learned any lessons from their experiences.

1. The Kissing Booth

Unlike its sequels, the original The Kissing Booth film had a pretty clear, albeit quite simple, plot. Elle harbored a secret crush on Noah, but not only did she think it was unrequited, but she also couldn’t act upon it because he was off-limits as per her and Lee’s rules. Eventually, the two go together, and to spare her best friend’s feelings from getting hurt, she and Noah dated in secret. Things worked out for everyone in the end, with Lee ultimately giving the couple his blessing.

As corny and predictable as it was, the storyline worked. It accomplished its main goal, which was to provide lighthearted and romantic entertainment. Seeing Elle and Noah date on the down-low was fun and funny to watch. The Kissing Booth also had several elaborate set pieces, such as the Halloween party to celebrate the best friends’ joint birthday, and the other high school shindigs that they staged. The characters were believably experiencing the complications of early adulthood, at least in terms of personal relationships. The subsequent sequels felt like they were trying too hard to be something that the franchise is not — introducing normal teenage issues but blowing them out of proportion until they robbed the story of all of its fun. In the first The Kissing Booth, the filmmakers had a straightforward narrative, and they stayed with it until the end, making the original an effective coming-of-age rom-com. Finally, it’s also frankly the only movie in the trilogy that seamlessly integrates the titular kissing booth in its title.

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