The Kissing Booth 2: Love, Distance, and the Weight of Expectation
The Kissing Booth premiered on Netflix in 2018, it caused major controversy in Netflix’s teen movie division. It was received with polarized sentiments, and the movie is impossible to ignore. Containing the early 2000s rom-com nostalgia mixed with new-age social media and global fandoms, the Kissing Booth 2 was one of the most awaited films of 2020. Fans across the world eagerly waited to see how the movie sequel would portray the romance of Elle and Noah, and whether the movie would have the same chaotic vibe of the first one. Expectations were even greater, after the viral success of the first one.
The Kissing Booth 2, although, is one of the most exotic, ambitious, and emotionally enticing films of Netflix’s rom-com collection. It is, limboing between the tug of war of complexity and the comfort of simplicity.
The Anticipated — and Anticipated For All the Wrong Reasons — Sequel
The Kissing Booth became a Netflix sleeper hit which was not surprising given the young passionate audience Netflix was courting. Viewers loved the Kissing Booth, which was the first Netflix movie, and rewatched it on repeat, albeit, as a guilty pleasure. Kissing Booth was a hit and propelled other Netflix originals to get the marketing love. Netflix was on the lookout for any new love stories to add to their catalogue. When the sequel was announced, Netflix rolled out smart marketing: trailers, a technology-enabled buzz builder, and interviews simulating emotional depth and love triangles.
Superstars Joey King, Jacob Elordi and Joel Courtney jump back to the movie advocating for a teen audience. Primary buzz remains the same as the first movie but this time, romance buzz feeds on the actors’ off-screen romance replenished buzz. And of course the buzz remains for the sequencing of trailers. Unlike the first movie, Kissing Booth 2 buzz for Netflix was not calibrated around the love story but rather the supposed real-life tension driving the love story in the movie.
Love on Hold — The Story that Tried to Grow Up
In the sequel, Elle Evans (Joey King) is said to be embarking on her senior year while Noah Flynn (Jacob Elordi) is beginning his new life at Harvard. The romance seems to Fickle love is said to be a test on trust, and proves to be a distance clash on jealously and growing pains.
Elle becomes the focus of her and Noah’s sequence and builds the tension of their distance romance. Elle begins to ask the questions and build the focus on their long distance romance. Marco (Taylor Zakhar Perez) joins the mix and challenges Elle to identify her current desires.
The love triangle is necessary, and surplus Elle fosters deep ruthless self-direction. The pulsing love tracks, fireworks, and shifting montages all address the hidden distance between the growing, shifting ambitions of love, growing, individuality.
While the predictability is to be expected of the genre, Elle begins the journey of adult realities through her revisited priorities and pressures on the college admission system. The franchise should be expected to provide a shifting focus, and for all the predictability that would be expected of a teen movie, The Kissing Booth 2 is the be expected.
The Charm and the Chaos
In this sequel, director Vince Marcello once again shows the Hollywood magic by using the city’s golden sunshine, neon-lit parties, and other nostalgic elements from the first movie Kissing Booth, such as the iconic kissing booth. Nevertheless, with a runtime of 130 minutes, there may be too much of a good thing. The film’s pacing problems is primarily caused by the middle section of the film where it resorts to filler subplots and lengthy montages, which is more fan service than storytelling.
The film is able to regain its rhythm in the more low-key moments. One of the best moments of the film is the dance competition featuring Elle and Marco, which is a well choreographed scene where the characters’ tension and chemistry is flawlessly matched. The series is able to thrive with the soundtrack, which is filled with pop anthems, spokespersons of youthful restlessness.
Since receiving an Emmy nomination for the Act, Joey King, who played Elle, is now a more seasoned actor and emotionally more complex. She portrayed the character with more self-awareness, the immature bubblegum side of Elle was certainly absent. Elle was emotionally center of the film, and in what could have been a clichéd love story, she was able to transform it into a story that reflects the confusions of young adulthood in a very complex way.
Jacob Elordi, for whatever reason, gave the impression that he was disengaged. In the interim between Euphoria and Deep Water, he was developing a darker and more complicated niche for himself as a performer. After all, that sort of brooding quality was a perfect fit for Noah Flynn, a character who was unpredictable and challenging to capture. Still, for a segment of the audience, the chemistry between him and King was, perhaps, less intense than what they had grown accustomed to.
In contrast, Taylor Zakhar Perez was the unexpected breakout. With commendable ease and authenticity, he transformed Marco into a character that captivated the public. “Team Marco” became a trending topic for weeks, evidence that the sequel had rekitched the competitive fandom that Netflix loves to exploit.
When Real Life Spills into the Frame
The off-screen dynamics between the leads and the film itself were arguably more interesting. King and Elordi maintained the composure of seasoned professionals post-breakup, agreeing to joint interviews, and laughter during press events, all while shifting the audience’s attention to the story. However, the audience’s attention was clearly on the understated tension present during every scene between Noah and Elle, provoking speculation on how much of it was performance and how much was real.
At the same time, Joey King was establishing herself. In The Act she showcased her skill as a dramatic actress and gained a level of respect that extended well beyond her work in rom-coms. Although The Kissing Booth 2 was not as serious, it highlighted her comic timing and charm once more and the audience remembered her for these traits. The experience was almost poetic — with the romance-tinged ambitions of her reality growing, playing Elle again almost felt like King was revisiting the origins of her career.