Grab your chapstick, folks: The Kissing Booth 3 [1] is ready to hit your screens! Well, it'll be ready to hit your screens when it premieres in 2021 [2], but the good news is that the cast and crew have already filmed it [3]. So, all we have to do now is wait for Netflix to drop that premiere date! But until then, we have all the time in the world to think about all the deliciously ridiculous things we hope will come with the third (and possibly final) instalment in the Kissing Booth saga.
Thanks to a sneak peek released by the streamer [4], we already know that the third film will pick up right after The Kissing Booth 2 [5], starting us off during the summer before Elle (Joey King [6]) heads to college. Elle still hasn't decided where she wants to go for college and hasn't told anyone about having been accepted to both Harvard and Berkeley. The big questions are, what college will she choose and where will our favourite characters wind up when it all comes to an end? It's all so dramatic!
Since the cast has confirmed that everyone from the second film [7] will be returning — including Joel Courtney, Jacob Elordi [8], Meganne Young, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, and Taylor Zakhar Perez — there's plenty of shenanigans that could go down in the third movie. Will Elle stay with Noah and attend Harvard with him? Will she stick with her original plans and go to Berkeley with Lee? Or will she go against the grain and go to a completely different school? There are so many ways this could all go down, and I've come up with several scenarios that I would love to see come true in The Kissing Booth [9] 3. Netflix, call me if you need some ideas for reshoots!
Elle and Lee Could Take a Hard Look at Their Friendship
We all love Elle and Lee (a small part of me is still holding out for them to be endgame [11]), but it's obvious that the best friends need to establish some boundaries in their relationship. Their bond is beautiful, but it's also stifling AF! The first thing they need to do is have a thorough look over their list of rules [12]. While some of the rules can work forever, there are some promises you can't be held to as you get older. With both them heading into college — whether they're together or not — they'll need to figure out a new way to keep each other close that doesn't put their other relationships in jeopardy. And they also need to be honest with one another. (Yes, I'm looking at Elle and her secret college acceptances!)
Noah and Elle Could Have an Actual Grown-Up Conversation
So much of Elle and Noah's relationship is held together by bare interactions — they never open up to one another unless they're in a fight. We can attribute their inability to talk about their feelings to them being emotionally stunted teens, but both Noah and Elle seek solace from other people with no problems. Elle obviously has Lee to talk to, but she also forms a bond with Marco that allows her to talk about things she's afraid to bring up to Noah. And Noah admits that he couldn't talk to his girlfriend about his college woes, so he found a confidante in Chloe instead.
It's easy to blame their young ages for their communication problems, but Elle and Noah have no trouble opening up to other people! At this point, all they're getting from one another is stress and hot makeouts. Don't even get me started on the trust issues their relationship is rife with, especially after Elle cheats on Noah with Marco. Maybe they could learn to talk to one another with time, but I hope the third film has them sitting down to discuss if there's even a relationship worth saving between them. And if there is, they need to talk about how they're going to make that work, whether Elle goes to Harvard or not.
Chloe Could Get to Be a Fleshed-Out Character
You don't just add the effervescent Maisie Richardson-Sellers to your cast and not utilise her to the fullest extent! Chloe is an enigma to the audience, though we know she's gotten close enough to Noah to be able to steady his outbursts with just a touch. The college freshman likened their relationship to Elle and Lee's friendship, but we don't know nearly enough about Chloe to understand what she sees in Noah as a companion. Is she also a freshman? What is she studying? How did she meet Noah? Why does she hang around him so much!? We can only hope that Chloe makes her return in The Kissing Booth [13] 3 and can be more than just the red herring for the other woman. She's a whole human being and we want to know more about her!
There Could Be Justice For Marco
Marco came in with his heart on his sleeve and a guitar strapped to his back — and he completely won us over. He devotes his time to helping Elle with the Dance Dance Revolution competition, and though his motives aren't completely altruistic (he's obviously into Elle as more than a friend), he doesn't push his affections on her in any way. He doesn't hide his attraction to Elle, but he lets her make all the moves — and is understandably crushed when she runs away from him after she kisses him.
The end of The Kissing Booth [14] 2 sees Elle going back to Noah after her moment with Marco, but the way he stares after her alludes to things not being quite over between the two of them. I don't necessarily believe that Elle deserves another chance with Marco since she broke his heart, but I wouldn't be opposed to seeing how the two of them find their way back to each other in the third movie.
Lee Could Focus on Himself For a Change
We love Lee, but it's okay to admit that he's a little too focussed on his friendship with Elle. It's a major point of contention between him and Rachel in the second film, and his utter devotion to Elle is the main reason the best friends bump heads in the first movie. Courtney told POPSUGAR that he wants Lee to grow as a person [15] in the next instalment, saying "I'd love to see Lee just come into his own and be completely confident. I want to see him land in himself and just be able to hold his ground in life."
Depending on how things play out in the third film, Lee could be going off to college alone. Rachel never reveals where she's going off to, but let's assume she won't be attending Berkeley. Without his best friend, his brother, or his girlfriend, Lee would finally be able to be his own person — a fresh start. He would learn to stand on his own without the security of Elle right by his side, which would be a true moment of growth for him. It would also help him learn how to detach and not devote so much of his energy to just one relationship. He could learn to juggle close friends and romantic partners; which he needs help in!
And if Elle or Rachel do decide to attend Berkeley with Lee, the chaos of college is the perfect remedy for codependency. Do you think you have time to be all up in each other's business with a full course load and manageing a social life? Barely.
Other Things We'd Like to See in The Kissing Booth 3
- Marco playing the guitar and singing Spanish versions of popular songs.
- Any of the parents giving actual, solid advice. Something more than just recommending your rageing teenagers listen to one another.
- Noah mentioning that he's going to therapy for those anger issues. He can't just be relying on other people to stop him from going into a rampage!
- Noah and Lee interacting without Elle or Rachel around. Remember how they're brothers??
- Another choreographed dance between Elle and Lee at their going away party.
- Elle and Lee playing a final game on the Dance Dance Revolution machine.
- Elle making a decision purely for herself, without the influences of Lee or Noah guiding her.
- The rest of the rules on the list.