Kissing Booth 3, The

image for Kissing Booth 3, The

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Not suitable under 13; parental guidance to 15 (mature themes, teen alcohol use, sexual activity and coarse language)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Kissing Booth 3, The
  • a review of Kissing Booth 3, The completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 2 September 2021.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 13 Not suitable due to mature themes, teen alcohol use, sexual activity and coarse language.
Children aged 13–15 Parental guidance recommended due to mature themes, teen alcohol use, sexual activity and coarse language.
Children aged 16 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Kissing Booth 3, The
Classification: M
Consumer advice lines: Coarse language
Length: 113 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

School’s out for summer, and for high school graduates, Elle (Joey King) and her bestie Lee (Joel Courtney), it’s going to be their biggest summer ever, before they are off to college. They decide to grab their respective partners, Noah (Jacob Elordi) and Rachel (Meganne Young), and spend the summer at Lee and Noah’s family beach house. As per usual, Elle has difficult decisions to make (go to Harvard and move in with boyfriend Noah versus go to Berkeley with bestie Lee?) and relationship-hot potatoes to handle, trying to find the right balance of working through a bucket list with Lee and spending quality time with Noah. Just to make things even more complicated, handsome and charming Marco (Taylor Zakhar Perez) is also back on the scene and ready to win over Elle’s heart.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Teenage romance; High school comedy; Rich kid lifestyle; Friendship; Coming of age; Dancing.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • Noah provokes Marco, upon which Marco punches Noah in the face.
  • Aggressive go-kart driving causing others to crash.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

  • It is unlikely that children in this age group would be scared by this movie, however it does include inappropriate, mature themes.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

  • It is unlikely that children in this age group would be scared by this movie, however it does include inappropriate, mature themes.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:

  • There is an underlying theme of Elle having lost her mum to cancer and the struggles associated with this, for example, missing her mother, and accepting that her father engages in a new relationship.

Thirteen and overinfo

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

  • While the themes and contents are not likely to disturb or scare children in this age group, the movie might send messages worth discussing, for example, in regard to underage drinking, sexuality, conflict-solving, relationships, life goals etc.

Product placement

  • None noted.

Sexual references

There are sexual references in this movie, including:

  • It is indicated that Elle and Noah have sex.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • Noah and Elle are seen kissing and it is implied they are sexually active.
  • Teenage couples share bedrooms.

Use of substances

There is use of substances in this movie, including:

  • Excessive underage drinking.
  • Teens appearing drunk and hungover.

Coarse language

There is frequent coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Bitch
  • Son of a bitch
  • Jerk
  • Shit
  • Asshole
  • Screw you
  • Fuck.

In a nutshell

The Kissing Booth 3 is the third instalment of the teenage romcom series, The Kissing Booth, based on teen author Beth Reekle’s book series of the same title. Like its two predecessors, it is packed with rich Los Angeles white kid and high school stereotypes and slapstick humour. This film is possibly the tamest of all 3 parts, still featuring underage drinking and teenagers engaging in sexual activities, but less prominently. The focus is mainly on Elle trying to negotiate other people’s, and her own, needs. Here, again Elle struggles with knowing what and how to prioritise, oscillating between selfless and selfish behaviour, and engages in avoidant and dishonest behaviour in order to postpone difficult confrontations. At least, by the end, she and also Noah seem to have made some progress in their development and growth, and it is good to see that people get called out on bad choices or behaviour, and in the end Elle makes a sensible and informed decision independent of the male characters in her life. Mature themes and coarse language make it unsuitable for children under 13 and warrant parental guidance for ages 13 to 15.

The main messages from this movie are that life and relationships are full of tricky decisions, and that it’s important to find out what it is that you actually want in life.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Honesty
  • Solving conflict through communicating openly and honestly
  • Friendship
  • Mature, independent, informed decision-making
  • Responsible, age-appropriate behaviour
  • Identifying and pursuing personal dreams.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children the importance of:

  • Being honest, and considering long-term consequences: Like in the first two movies, Elle isn’t always honest or straight forward, in an effort to avoid difficult conversations and conflict. However, this approach backfires, causing even more drama and disappointment. Eventually Elle learns that one must take responsibility and face challenges.
  • Finding out who you are / who and what you want to be, independent of others’ expectations, and pursuing your personal dreams.