THE KISSING BOOTH

Name: THE KISSING BOOTH
Item: THE KISSING BOOTH
Author: Tess Farrand

“Cute Concept Marred by Some Edgy Teenage Content”

Family Content: -2 Extreme caution for older teenagers and adults.

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

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What You Need To Know:

Set in Los Angeles, THE KISSING BOOTH follows the story of a high school junior named Elle Evans and her best friend Lee Flynn. Lee has a popular older brother named Noah who plays football and is always overshadowing Lee. Elle and Lee make a pact which states that Elle cannot date Noah. Things take a turn when Noah pays to kiss Elle at the booth, and the two admit they have feelings for one another. There is only one problem in the back of Elle’s mind, which is the pact she made with Lee that she would never date Noah. Will Elle decide to date Noah, or will she lose her friendship with Lee?

THE KISSING BOOTH is entertaining and funny. However, the storyline is clichéd and predictable, and the acting isn’t always good. THE KISSING BOOTH has a light redemptive, moral worldview that highlights friendship, forgiveness and reconciliation. For example, two friends learn to forgive each other and make up after a fight. The movie contains three fights, some sexual elements, underage drinking, and 22 obscenities. MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution.

Content:

(C, B, LL, S, N, V, A, MM):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Light redemptive, moral worldview that highlights friendship, forgiveness and reconciliation, for example, two friends learn to forgive each other and make up after a big fight

Foul Language:

22 obscenities and no profanities

Violence:

There are two fights at school, a girl falls and cuts her face, two brothers get into a fight

Sex:

A male slaps a female’s rear end, main character dances sensually in the boys locker room, characters kiss in the “kissing booth,” and it’s implied that teenagers fornicate

Nudity:

Upper male nudity, a woman is shown in a bra and underwear, a man’s underwear shows

Alcohol Use:

Underage drinking and drunkenness depicted

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No smoking or drugs; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

Lying, deception and betrayal.

More Detail:

Set in Los Angeles, THE KISSING BOOTH follows the story of a high school junior named Elle and her best friend, Lee, who decide to make a “kissing booth” for the school fundraiser, but things take a wild turn when Lee’s older brother makes an appearance. THE KISSING BOOTH has a light redemptive, moral worldview that promotes friendship, forgiveness, and reconciliation, but contains some sexual references, underage drinking and about 22 obscenities. Netflix is planning a sequel to this minor 2018 teenage comedy, so MOVIEGUIDE® is covering the first movie.

THE KISSING BOOTH begins showing flashbacks of the many years of friendship between Lee and Elle. Elle’s mother was best friends with Lee’s mother, and when Elle’s mother passed away Lee’s family was there for her. Over the years, Elle starts becoming attracted to Lee’s older brother, Noah, but Lee and Elle made a pact when they were six that they would never date each other’s siblings.

On the first day back to high school, Elle wears short skirt because her pants rip. A guy on the football team gropes her in the parking lot, leading Noah to punch the guy. The three of them, including Elle, get detention for their behavior. Despite this, Elle becomes more popular at school because she matured over the summer.

Lee and Elle work on the school fundraiser together and decide to run a kissing booth. The head of the fundraiser committee tells them that they’ll agree on the idea if Noah appears at the booth. Elle tells the committee that Noah will be there even though she hadn’t asked him. That night, Noah decides to throw a party at his house, and Elle decides it would be the perfect time to ask him to work the kissing booth. However, Elle ends up getting too drunk and doesn’t ask Noah.

The school fundraiser ends up being successful, and the kissing booth raises a ton of money. Moreover, when the booth runs out of volunteers to work it, Elle decides that she will volunteer. Things take a turn, when Noah pays to kiss Elle at the booth, and the two admit they have feelings for one another. There is only one problem in the back of Elle’s mind, which is the pact she made with Lee that she would never date Noah. Will Elle decide to date Noah, or will she lose her friendship with Lee?

THE KISSING BOOTH is entertaining and funny. However, the storyline is cliché and predictable and at times the acting isn’t great. THE KISSING BOOTH has a light redemptive, moral worldview that that highlights friendship, forgiveness and reconciliation, for example, two friends learn to forgive each other and make up after a big fight. The movie contains some minor violence as well as some sexual references, underage drinking and about 22 obscenities. MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution.