As someone whose comfort film is the original The Kissing Booth, I really wanted to love this movie. I sat through all of the partially painful 113 minutes of the last instalment to the series the day it came out on Netflix, but was disappointed to say the least. My beloved Elle (Joey King) and her best friend, Lee Flynn (Joel Courtney) plan to have a perfect summer before they leave for college. However, there is one dark cloud looming over their plans: Elle got accepted both into UC Berkeley and Harvard, the schools of Lee and her hot boyfriend Noah (Jacob Elordi) respectively. The worst part of it? She lied to them about it to avoid making a decision and potentially hurting one of them.
In the “best summer of their lives”, spent at the Flynn’s huge beach house/mansion, Elle and Lee want to tick off all the items on their childhood beach bucket list. Cue to a real-life Mario Kart race including authentic-looking costumes, a flash mob in a fancy restaurant, winning a sandcastle contest, and singing karaoke after inhaling helium. Despite these fun montages full of great potential, the film constantly repeats similar patterns as seen in the first two movies. For example, Elle deciding to go with whatever Noah wants, making Lee angrily storm off, or having Noah be jealous yet again. Elle and Lee sometimes seem to have a bit of a toxic friendship, as Lee never considers what is actually best for Elle, but just for himself – to keep his best friend by his side. The relationship between Elle and Noah appears to have similar problems, as they both have trouble properly communicating with each other. 
For me, the “best” part of the film was when Elle finally sits back and reflects on what is the best choice for her. Without the influence of either Noah or Lee, she realises she has a passion for video game design – something that is foreshadowed throughout the franchise – and wants to pursue it in life. The film ends on a cute, hopeful note that leaves room for interpretation, but thankfully – or rather, hopefully – not enough for another film.
Overall, the film was at least 30 minutes too long, with a few too many of the same-old Elle-Noah-Lee-conflicts. As much as I enjoyed the first two cheesy instalments of the franchise, I am disappointed how little I ended up liking the main trio after the credits of the final film rolled around. If you followed Elle’s journey over the first two films, you should definitely sit through this one to get closure on her story, but be prepared for its extreme cheesiness and absurdity in comparison to the previous films.
2/5 stars