“The Kissing Booth” On Netflix Has Very Mixed Reviews, So I Watched And Here’s How It Went

Some say it's so bad you'll cringe, others say it's so beautiful you'll cry.

If you haven't heard, there's a movie on Netflix called The Kissing Booth that's sparked some buzz amongst viewers since its release in May.

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Here's how Netflix describes the movie: "When teenager Elle's first kiss leads to a forbidden romance with the hottest boy in high school, she risks her relationship with her best friend."

There are a lot of strong opinions on The Kissing Booth — some good, some bad, some a mixture of both.

@Frzier99Shelby, @katherinedlf @katelynmc00k

So, I decided to spend 1 hour and 45 minutes of my life soaking in The Kissing Booth, because honestly, any movie with "forbidden romance" in the description is worthy of a watch, right?

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The opening minutes give a recap of Elle's life with her best friend, Lee, from being babies to teenagers.

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Here's the takeaway from the first 10 minutes of the movie:

Elle = Fun. Chill. A likable, average teen who is easy to relate to.

Lee = Goofy. Funny. Elle's best friend.

Noah = Lee's older brother. Good at sports and getting in fights. Hates wearing shirts. Elle's dream boo.

One of the moments we're shown from Elle's life is when a dude sneezed in her face and it's very disgusting, but I had to see it, so now you have to too.

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RIP your appetite.

It's Elle's first day of school and she has some trash luck.

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Her pants rip and her other school uniforms are at the dry cleaners, so she has to wear an old skirt that's extra short on her now.

They JUST pulled up and Elle is talking to Lee about brainstorming student council fundraiser ideas. Sheesh, it's the first day of school, can't y'all just collect syllabi and chill?

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Elle's short skirt is drawing a lot of attention from the other students.

Ah, yes, it's a movie about high schoolers, so of course there are teenage characters being portrayed by adults.

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That's Tuppen, how old do y'all think he is? My guess is not 15-18 years old.

Tuppen was a douche and his inappropriate actions towards Elle earned him a whoopin' from Lee's older brother, Noah.

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Believe it or not, only one of these actors is not portraying a teenager.

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Wow, Noah's so edgy.

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Suddenly this movie has turned into Mean Girls fanfic.

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Mean Girls came out in 2004 but honestly, "The OMG Girls" sounds more like a mid-2000s label than "The Plastics" did.

Tuppen, the alleged teenager, wore a short skirt as a way to make nice with Elle and now she's going on a date with him.

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Noah is looking a little jealous of the attention Elle is giving Tuppen. We know Elle and Noah are going to get together eventually, but let's see how this plays out.

Oh look, it's another "teen."

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So far, The Kissing Booth really feels like one of those Disney Channel Original Movies from the early 2000s and I mean that in the best way.

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Play the Disney Channel Original Movie theme song directly before pressing play on The Kissing Booth and tell me it doesn't fit PERFECTLY.

I'm a big fan of Elle and Lee's relationship. He dropped her off for her date and gave her a little confidence-boosting pep talk — that's friendship.

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They've got a great dynamic and it sort of feels like they could/should/might eventually date each other.

PLOT TWIST: Noah told Tuppen (and a bunch of other dudes) they're not allowed to go on a date with Elle.

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Seems pretty controlling and messed up to sabotage your little brother's best friend's love life, but I'm sure this'll wind up being seen as a romantic/protective gesture.

Ah, yes, a high school party at a beautiful mansion! Very relatable! This is definitely a normal thing that happens a lot in real life!

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Someone definitely googled, "current teenage slang" during the making of this film.

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I relate to whoever wrote this dialogue because I don't know a ton of current teen slang either, so I'd choose one of the few words I'm familiar with (like "savage") and force it into conversations.

So, Noah continues to be overbearing with Elle, and Elle continues to not listen to what he tells her to do.

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The audacity of this man, erm—"teenage boy," to tell Elle to put on a shirt when he's perpetually topless is ludicrous.

The movie is called The Kissing Booth so I did anticipate a kissing booth appearing at some point, but it's just unrealistic to act like a high school would allow a station for students to pay money to make out with each other.

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Whatever, I once sat through a Fast & Furious scene where Vin Diesel drove a car from one skyscraper into another and didn't say a word, so I can suspend my disbelief for this kissing booth situation.

Anyway, Lee smooched his new love interest and Elle is happy for him. Hooray!

ELLE AND NOAH KISSED AT THE BOOTH. This is a direct violation of rule number nine in her and Lee's friendship commandments.

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Seems like a silly rule since they all grew up together, but I'm hoping it results in some entertaining drama.

Here's Lee's reaction when Elle tells him she kissed Noah.

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He tried to play it off like he doesn't care, but I know deep down he's a little salty.

Here's Noah attempt at saying something romantic to Elle.

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Noah from The Notebook set the bar pretty high for characters named Noah in romance movies, and this Noah ain't living up to that standard.

Noah and Elle are officially having a secret relationship.

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Noah seems to have some anger and control issues so I don't know how good of an idea this is. He's legitimately been in like four or five fights and he even speared a dude WWE-style.

I'm pretty impressed with how intense this movie gets at some parts. I'll refrain from spoiling everything in case folks want to watch for themselves.

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However, I will say that Noah's anger issues continue to be a thing.

Some stuff goes down and Elle has a falling out with both Lee and Noah, but it's their fault because they have some odd control issues.

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Lee and Noah act more like overly strict parents than Elle's actual father does and it's pretty annoying.

I liked that the ending of this movie was satisfying to an extent, but open-ended in the way that real life teenage romance often feels.

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If you know you're not going to watch and just want to know how the movie ends, here you go.

SPOILER ALERT Tap to reveal Click to reveal

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FINAL THOUGHTS:

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Number of fight scenes: Too many to count. This was like a love story squeezed into a Worldstar fight comp.

Number of scenes with In-N-Out burgers in it: One, about 15 minutes in, and I haven't stopped craving a Double-Double since.

Rom-com rating: 7/10

Should there be a sequel?: If Vin Diesel can get however many sequels he's gotten after driving a car between skyscrapers, then damnit, The Kissing Booth 2 deserves a green light.

Should you watch: You should check it out if you like teen romance, rom-coms and/or cheesy movies. Before starting it, please mentally prepare to endure maximum cheesiness so you're not expecting some type of Oscar-worthy love story.

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