So why is The Kissing Booth so insanely popular? The lack of teen romcoms might be one explanation. But if one can look past its many, many problems, as well as the stereotypes, cliches, and its painfully derivative nature, I can see where it might be somewhat satisfying for a teen audience, especially one starved for teen romantic comedies in an era decidedly lacking in them.
The kissing booth netflix movie#
It’s not exactly a progressive movie, and a number of outlets have called out the movie for its sexist themes. Noah beats up the classmate, but then Shelly agrees to go on a date with the classmate anyway after he apologizes by wearing the same short skirt that Shelly was wearing when the classmate grabbed her behind. At one point, in fact, a classmate of Shelly’s sexually assaults her by grabbing her butt. It’s literally a movie about two men trying to control a woman. Lee Flynn (Joel Courtney) spends the movie trying to emotionally manipulate Shelly (King) into not dating his older brother, while the older brother, Noah (Elordi), threatens to beat up anyone else who tries to date Shelly. In fact, its themes are at times unsettling.
Having seen it, I can confirm that it’s not a good film. The film - which has not been received well by film critics (it sits at 17 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) - is targeted primarily at teen audiences. The Netflix film stars Joey King as a high school student who falls in love with her best friend’s brother, a relationship that is sealed in a kissing booth. What might explain the movie’s insane popularity?īefore we answer that, let’s discuss The Kissing Booth itself. Meanwhile, upon its release, the stars of the film, Jacob Elordi and Joey King, placed number one and number six respectively on IMDB’s Star-O-Meter, which reflects the most popular celebrities on IMDB at the time. While he would not offer specific numbers, he did cite IMDB, which - at the time - placed The Kissing Booth as the fourth most popular movie in the United States, behind only Deadpool 2, Avengers: Infinity War and Solo. It’s not only a hugely popular original movie for Netflix, it’s “one of the most-watched movies in the country, and maybe in the world,” according to Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos. If you’re a Netflix subscriber, and you’ve spent any time browsing through their offerings recently, you have no doubt seen The Kissing Both appear up in both the “popular” and “trending” sections of the streaming service.