The Precious Evaluation

“The Kissing Booth.”A movie that has a false narrative of how love happens. When I watched this movie I realized this had to be the cringiest movie of them all. They tried to make this movie relate but they did the complete opposite. Analyzing this movie had to be one of the hardest because not only did I have to pause it to annotate but also took cringe breaks. Overall this movie has made me realize there is more to analyze than beautiful color work, lighting, and dialogue. There is also bad in movies that need to be talked about and that is what we are here for today. 

The beginning of the movie starts with a montage. In this montage, we learn 2 core components, Elle (the main character) has never had her first kiss or a boyfriend and she has had the same best friend since birth. Well, I guess that’s three things but I digress.  As I was saying these are two mediocre and cliche factors to put in a coming-of-age movie. I mean truly I wonder what will happen next. This is something about the movie I didn’t prefer because instead of telling us at the beginning of the movie they could have shown it. For example, they could have shown Elle being socially awkward and only comfortable with her best friend or scared to get her first kiss. I don’t know I’m, not a director, but I do know there was a better way. 

When the montage ends it goes to Elle and her best friend Lee at his parents’ gigantic mansion. We find them talking about their junior project for the fall fundraiser. However, before they could even brainstorm ideas Lee’s “Super hot” brother Noah comes out and interrupts. When this happens Elle looks at him as if she has a crush until she remembers one of the rules she and Lee made. As they would say, “Rule number 9, relatives of your best friend is totally off limits.” This first scene has already told me clearly where the movie is going, have you figured it out yet? I know I have. Anyways Noah leaves and it cuts to Elle getting ready for her first day of school.

As she is getting ready her pants rip, this would be a normal mistake but backups are at the dry cleaners. Leaving her to wear her skirt from ninth grade. As you can imagine the skirt was very revealing, but as she said, “I have no choice.” Yeah, I guess missing the first day of school would have killed her, yet I don’t know anything. When she arrives at the school everyone is looking at her new mature body, until a stereotypical high school jock comes and slaps her butt. Oh my god as I watched the movie it kept getting lamer and more cliche by the second. Then it gets worse, her friend Lee tries to defend her, but before he can even throw a punch his brother Noah comes and saves the day. Beating the jock to a pulp, I mean come on be for real where is the realism in this. His brother just magically comes and saves him? Oh bull shit, from the looks of it this is a Wattpad story produced into a movie.

When the fight ends the three Elle, Noah, and  Tobin go to the office. When Tobin is in the room talking to the principal, Noah and Elle are talking. Elle says, “You’ll do anything to start a fight” and  Noah responds, “I don’t start fights, I finish them.” Not going to lie when I heard this I almost puked! Like full-on cringe, why do writers feel this is how our generation talks? This is a disgrace. However, as the conversation continues he tells Elle that wearing a skirt like that is asking for it. Y’all come on what is this writing, I mean did they think it would get a laugh? 

Thankfully the scene ends and the next one starts, showcasing an off-brand Mean Girls. Three girls in a group that is labeled the, “Oh My God Girls” come to sit with Elle and ask her all about the fight and her relationship with Noah. Saying stuff like “Have you made out with him yet” and “How crazy was that fight “ leaving Elle speechless as they kept talking over her. Without giving Elle a chance to breathe, they end up leaving after asking questions she didn’t even answer. Truly a waste of film I mean I guess it shows the 3 girls’ personalities, yet it could have been a better execution. That was just stupid and pointless, there was no true conversation, just pure brain rot. Now I don’t know if the movie is bad on purpose because in the movie even Elle said, “What just happened” revealing that it was a confusing watch for everyone lol. 

When the girls leave the movie goes to Elle and Lee talking about the party they will be at on Friday and their junior fall fundraiser.  As they are talking about the party Lee says, I want to kiss this girl at the party and Elle responds that would only happen if you paid her to kiss you. Right when she said this they both jumped out of their seats saying they would do a kissing booth for their HIGHSCHOOL FUNDRAISER. Now I don’t know if my school is strict but I don’t think that is acceptable anywhere, truly I didn’t know that was a thing. It seems gross to not even know who you’re kissing. Though I digress, it’s a movie. The two take the proposal to the council. The council first declines because of understandable reasons like you know germs, diseases, and more, Though when they hear Noah will be one of the contestants at the kissing booth their opinion changes. I’m sorry for whoever is reading this because it only gets worse. You might as well tune out now because I can only complain. So you’re going to tell me everyone agrees because the hottest guy at the school is participating. Yeah, whatever this movie has to be for people whose frontal lobe hasn’t developed. 

As her council approves their proposal the movie continues leading up to the Friday night party. Where Elle gets drunk for the first time and doesn’t handle it well. When she was drunk she started to strip while her friends watched without helping. I think this movie pisses me off so much because nothing is believable, because if you see your friend doing something they will regret in the morning will you just watch? NO, and if you do you’re not a friend. Although someone does help her out, Noah. We find Elle in Noah’s bed in the morning with his shirt on, now this isn’t going where you think it’s going.  Noah just held her there while she was drunk. This was the one part of the movie I enjoyed, something somewhat normal so thank you for this one factor. Until Noah comes into the room and the most outrageous thing happens. Elle trips over the curtain which leads it to wrap around them making Elle touch Noah’s private part. Guys I’m not even going to talk about that because that was just insane. How, how does a curtain put you in this predicament EVER? 

As dumber things happen in the movie that’s not worth talking about eventually the kissing booth activity happens. They show the event in a montage not even highlighting the literal name of the movie. As the kissing booth is happening it becomes time to switch out one of the boys for Noah. Although Noah never agreed, when the others found this out everyone left. Causing Elle to go out and be one of the contestants. Without her knowing Noah would be the one she kisses blindfolded. As she kisses him she takes off her blindfold and continues to kiss him. Right after the kiss Elle realizes what she did she goes to tell Lee. When he hears the news you can tell he is irritated and doesn’t like the thought. Although he lets the kiss go and tells her to not grind coochies with his brother. Honestly, this line left me speechless and made me want to turn off the movie. Not even only because of what he said but why does it matter if she and his brother talk? 

Anyway, that didn’t matter because later in the movie Elle ends up getting a ride home from Noah. The ride was cut short due to dangerous rain, leading them to pull over and wait for the rain to stop. While they were waiting for the rain to stop they ended up spilling their feelings for each other leading them to kiss again. Everything was going right before the security came and told Noah to stop bringing girls here. This makes Ell furious, making her feel like another one of his conquests. The night ends shortly with Noah taking all home without any verification of what they are. This scene makes me mad because there wasn’t any color work to make the setting seem appealing or magical, just a kiss.  I guess this could work for a kid but a person with a developed brain should not enjoy this movie. 

Eventually, Ell and Noah meet up again and he takes her somewhere he has never shown anyone else. They end up saying they want to be together but can’t tell anyone till she tells Lee. They end up having sex and the scene goes to the next morning. Not going to lie, this somewhat pissed me off. Y’all just started talking, like dead ass neither of them truly knows anything about the other. And I’m not shaming anyone for moving fast but 2 days ago girly didn’t have her first kiss so WHAT. Later the two start to spend more time together. The movie shows this in a montage form. As we can tell they are very good at that. With the montage the song Love Grows plays in the back, which to me seems cliche because out of all the songs they chose this one. No deeper meaning, no deeper thinking just there. This movie is too simple but yet so complex I hate it. With all this time they spent together, they suddenly got caught by Lee. As imagined this makes Lee very upset causing him to storm off and leave, causing a drift in every relationship.

Elle tries to make up with Lee multiple times, yet nothing works. The friends even had a rule saying, “No matter how mad you are at your best friend you have to forgive them if they give you ice cream.” This makes me mad because Lee stops being her friend for a rule but ignores the other. True hypocrite. Now what I’m going to tell you next might blow you away.  Later in the movie, the two friends rekindle by dancing together in the arcade. This part made me cringe because out of all the times, she apologized he didn’t accept, but somehow they dance their way into harmony. 

Yet this isn’t the end. The friends end up going to prom where Elle bumps into Noah. Noah tries to kiss her, but out of fear of losing Lee, she declines. Noah tells her to stop, and Elle asks why she should.  When he responded, “I love you,” this made Elle run away out of fear. This scene also angers me because what does he love? They have only talked for a few weeks, this shows that this story is a true fairytale. 

When Elle runs off the next shot is Elle and Lee getting ready for their party. You can see Elle is sad, while Lee ignores it. Throughout the party Elle reminisces on her memories with Noah, leading her to cry and tell her true feelings to Lee. She cried, “Yes you are my best friend, but that doesn’t give you the right to tell me who I can love.” As Lee fully heard Elle’s perspective he grew to understand where he was wrong. All he was left to say was, “I love you, Elle, I just want you to be happy.” After this the friends make up and go find Noah, when he is found Elle tells him how much she loves him. Officially making their relationship official. The 2 starts to spend the last weeks of school together before Noah leaves for Harvard. Noah eventually leaves and they agree nothing changes in their relationship, ending the movie with a happy ending. 

What a sack of shi…. You know what never mind. I just don’t believe this is a good, not even decent movie. In conclusion, despite its popularity, “The Kissing Booth” falls short in several critical areas, warranting a rating of 2 out of 5. While the film may entertain some with its nostalgic charm and romantic storyline, it lacks depth in character development, relies heavily on clichés, and perpetuates problematic stereotypes. Additionally, the narrative often feels predictable, and the pacing struggles to maintain engagement. Overall, while it may have its moments, “The Kissing Booth” ultimately fails to deliver a compelling cinematic experience deserving of a higher rating.