The Kissing Booth 2 is a 2020 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Vince Marcello and written by Marcello and Jay Arnold. It is a follow-up to the 2018 film The Kissing Booth and the second movie in the Kissing Booth trilogy. The trilogy is based on books by Beth Reekles. The film stars Joey King, Joel Courtney, and Jacob Elordi.

The movie was released on July 24, 2020, by Netflix. Like the first film, it received mostly negative reviews from critics. A third movie in the series was released on August 11, 2021.

Plot

Elle's senior year starts when her classmates spread rumors that she and Noah are ending their relationship. This worries her because Noah has been spending time with a new friend named Chloe on Instagram.

Elle and Lee are organizing a kissing booth for the Charity Fair again. Lee suggests Elle ask Marco Peña, a new student called the "new Noah Flynn," to be part of the booth. Elle beats Marco at a video game and convinces him to join.

Noah encourages Elle to apply to Harvard, which conflicts with her plan to attend the University of California, Berkeley with Lee (where their mothers became friends). Elle applies secretly. When she talks to her father about college costs, she learns money is a challenge. She decides to compete in a dance competition with Lee, which offers a large cash prize.

Elle visits Noah in Boston and meets his friends, including Chloe, which makes her feel insecure. She finds Chloe's earring under Noah's bed and leaves Boston early. She confronts Noah, who tells her nothing happened between him and Chloe and asks her to trust him, but she remains unsure.

During practice for the competition, Lee slips (later revealed to be faked) and suggests Marco become Elle's dance partner. Elle is not happy but agrees. As Marco and Elle spend time together, they grow closer and develop feelings for each other.

Without Elle knowing, Lee is having problems with Rachel because Elle spends so much time with them, leaving them no alone time. After forgetting Rachel at the movies, Elle asks Lee to talk with her, but he never does. At the Halloween Dance, Lee forgets to tell Rachel about costume changes, making her upset. Elle dances with Marco and almost kisses him but stops when she sees others watching.

Lee finds Elle's Harvard application in his car and becomes angry. Elle and Marco perform well at the competition, and she kisses him at the end, not knowing Noah is in the crowd. He leaves quickly.

At Thanksgiving, Noah brings Chloe to the Flynn house, upsetting Elle. Lee confronts Elle about her Harvard application, and Rachel is also upset. Rachel discovers Lee never spoke with Elle and leaves. Later, Rachel breaks up with Lee. Elle tries to help Rachel reconcile with Lee but fails. She returns Chloe's earring, and Chloe admits she lost it when she slept in Noah's room.

On carnival day, Lee and Rachel reconcile after kissing at the kissing booth while blindfolded. Elle is also blindfolded and approached by Marco, who wants to talk about their feelings. Elle admits they have chemistry but says she loves Noah and searches for him at the airport.

At LAX, Chloe tells Elle that Noah was looking for her. Elle finds Noah in the park where they first kissed. He explains he was embarrassed about his performance at Harvard and wants a connection with Chloe like Elle has with Lee. They reconcile.

Months later, Noah returns, and Elle, Lee, and Rachel graduate. Lee tells Elle he was accepted to Berkeley and asks if she received a response. Elle reveals she was waitlisted at both Berkeley and Harvard. When she opens the letters, she learns she was accepted to both universities. She must choose: go to Harvard with Noah or Berkeley with Lee.

Production

In February 2019, it was announced that Joey King, Joel Courtney, and Jacob Elordi would return to their roles in the film. Vince Marcello directed the movie, which he wrote with Jay Arnold. Netflix was responsible for distributing the film. In May 2019, Maisie Richardson-Sellers and Taylor Zakhar Perez joined the cast. Meganne Young, Carson White, and Molly Ringwald also returned to their roles in the film.

Main filming for the movie ended in August 2019. The filming took place in South Africa.

Release

The movie came out on Netflix on July 24, 2020. It was the most watched film during its first weekend, while the first movie in the series was third. During its second weekend, it was ranked second. Forbes said it was "one of the most popular movies ever on the platform." In October 2020, Netflix reported that 66 million households watched the movie during its first four weeks of release.

Critical response

On the review website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 27% based on 41 reviews, with an average score of 4.3 out of 10. The site’s critics summarized: "Joey King helps improve The Kissing Booth 2, but the film is poorly made and may disappoint viewers." On Metacritic, the movie received a weighted average score of 39 out of 100 from 12 critics, which means most reviews were negative.

IndieWire’s Kate Erbland gave the film a grade of C+, noting that while it shows some character growth, it often feels similar to other movies in its genre and does not explore complex themes. She added that the film hints at possible future improvements. Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent scored it 2 out of 5 stars, stating that it is less problematic than the first movie in the series.

Adam Graham of The Detroit News gave the film a B, describing it as a fun, sunny story with a good cast and smooth production that offers a pleasant escape. Robyn Bahr of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film explores the challenges of a new relationship fading and called it "mad stupid," but noted it is not as obviously bad as other low-budget teen comedies.

Sequel

The Kissing Booth 3 was released on Netflix worldwide on Wednesday, August 11, 2021. It was available at 12:00 a.m. PT and 3:00 a.m. ET in the US.