By Paul Hall
Two years ago, we were treated to The Kissing Booth, a sweet little romantic comedy for the teenage crowd that found an audience at Netflix. So much so that a sequel was created with much of the original cast and director Vince Marcello back for another crack at things with The Kissing Booth 2, now on Netflix.
Our sequel does a good job of catching viewers up on where the first film left off in the first 90 seconds or so of this effort, but if you are on Netflix, you can of course stream the whole thing before you start here, or just dive right in to the sequel.
Lead Elle Evans (Joey King) is now a senior in high school. Her crush from the first film — spoiler alert — hunky Noah (Jacob Elordi) has moved on to Harvard. Even so, Elle tells us the two spent the whole summer together and it was glorious. But now, as she starts her senior year with her boyfriend across the country from her in Boston, how does she handle the long-distance relationship?
Long-distance relationships rarely work and are fraught with peril, and that is exactly what happens to Elle and Noah. Should the relationship continue, or will jealousy and fear rule the equation?
But Elle’s relationship with her bestie Lee (Joel Courtney) is having its own problems as Lee’s girlfriend Rachel (Meganne Young) feels like the third wheel. Also enter new hunky guy Marco (Taylor Zakhar Perez) to the mix to add relationship issues for all of these friends, and, as you can imagine, drama, laughs and romance abound as navigating school becomes secondary for these kids.
If you aren’t confused and find yourself mildly intrigued by the above narrative, The Kissing
Booth 2 just may be for you. The fact is, the film is a pleasant story focusing on surviving relationship issues that pop up with many of today’s youth. The music works and fits the story, and the young men and women are quite beautiful, hence why I found myself using the word “hunky” twice in writing about the film.
This is a film that 16-year-old me would love to have fallen upon and blissfully enjoyed. But as an adult now, there are faults to the sequel. It is too long; The Kissing Booth 2 really needed to be trimmed back under the two-hour mark. The film also needed to focus a bit. Although the characters were interesting, the stories needed to hone in and not deal with seemingly everything the characters experience in their senior year relationships.
Despite the film’s faults, I enjoyed King’s performance and the characters and actors who exist here. The whole thing feels like it was genuinely better suited for a television series than a film, but I’ll take what we get, as that is passing in my book.
Sure, a kissing booth seems unlikely anymore in life, but close your eyes and remember back to the easier times from the beginning of this year. The Kissing Booth 2 reminds us love is real, friendship is real and our lives go on, no matter what is thrown at us. Sometimes it is OK to just love and be loved.
Paul’s Grade: C+
The Kissing Booth 2
Rated TV-14
Stars: Joey King, Joel Courtney, Jacob Elordi
Director: Vince Marcello
Available now on Netflix
