Film

The Kissing Booth 2

A teen romantic comedy about navigating long-distance love, friendship fractures, and unexpected attraction while college looms. It's bright, earnest, and unapologetically melodramatic—the kind of film that knows exactly what it is and leans into every feeling without irony. For viewers who want romance that takes itself seriously and a story where the emotional stakes genuinely matter.

TMDb rating3.8

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you want a teen romance where the sweetness is earned through messy friendships and long-distance longing, and you don't mind a rom-com that leans on a familiar love-triangle itch.

Skip it if you find teen-movie melodrama exhausting, since at 132 minutes the sighs, misunderstandings and mopey stretches pile up and the jokes thin out fast.

What it asks of you: A long, loose sitting with plenty of brooding and wandering, where the emotional beats arrive slowly and the mood swings between giggly and glum.

If you liked this

To All the Boys I've Loved Before2018

Charming and smart about the peculiar vulnerability of teenage romance. Lara Jean feels like a real person navigating real complications, and the film trusts its audience to care about small, genuine moments.

But The love triangle resolves quickly, which some find disappointing. If you want sustained romantic tension and plot twists, this is quieter and more straightforward.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before poster

Sierra Burgess Is a Loser2018

Funny, messy, and genuinely sweet about identity and self-acceptance. It doesn't shy away from awkwardness or the ways teenagers hurt each other, then try to make it right.

But The central deception plot is darker than the tone sometimes acknowledges. Some viewers find that tonal inconsistency uncomfortable.

Sierra Burgess Is a Loser poster

The Summer I Turned Pretty2022

Lush, nostalgic, and utterly committed to the feeling of summer romance. The love triangle has genuine weight, and the show gives you time to live in its world instead of rushing from plot point to plot point.

But It's deliberately slow-paced and episodic. If you prefer tight plotting and quick resolutions, this meandering approach will frustrate you.

The Summer I Turned Pretty poster

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The wildcard

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The Half of It2020

Both are about a protagonist caught between romantic feelings and loyalty to a best friend, forced to choose between versions of themselves they've presented to different people.

A smart, funny reworking of Cyrano de Bergerac set in contemporary high school. It's genuinely thoughtful about identity, desire, and what it means to want someone—with a romance that subverts expectation in the best way.

But The ending prioritizes emotional honesty over romantic satisfaction. If you want the couple to end up together, you'll be disappointed, but the film knows exactly what it's doing.

The Half of It poster
More like this (8)

Never Have I Ever2020

Hilarious and painfully honest about desire, friendship, and the gap between who you are and who you want to be. Devi is complicated in ways that feel genuinely earned, and the romance threads through rather than dominating.

But Multiple POV narration can feel gimmicky. The comedy is sometimes sharper than the romance, so if you're watching purely for the love story, you might want something more focused.

Never Have I Ever poster

10 Things I Hate About You1999

The template for witty teen romance that actually works. The banter is clever without being exhausting, the characters have dimension, and it earns its earnest moments because it's spent time being funny.

But It's very much a 1990s film. The gender politics and some jokes land differently now, and the pacing feels deliberate in a way that might read as slow.

10 Things I Hate About You poster

Ginny & Georgia2021

Energetic and packed with character dynamics beyond just the romance. Ginny's emotional landscape is complicated, and the show doesn't condescend to its audience or rush through genuine hurt.

But It tries to do a lot—romance, family drama, social issues—and doesn't always balance them gracefully. Some threads feel abandoned or oversimplified.

Ginny & Georgia poster

Everything Sucks!2018

A genuinely funny show about a high school film club that uses coming-of-age awkwardness as comedy gold. It's energetic, weird, and the main couple's relationship feels lived-in and real.

But Cancelled after one season. If you hate unresolved stories, this will feel incomplete, though the season itself has a satisfying arc.

Everything Sucks! poster

Heartstopper2022

Sweetly earnest about young love and self-discovery. It trusts sincerity completely and builds warmth through small, attentive moments. The aesthetic is dreamy and the emotion is genuine.

But Some find it saccharine. If you prefer romance with an edge or darker undercurrents, this uncynical approach might feel naive.

Heartstopper poster

First Kill2022

A vampire romance that swaps the usual power dynamics in refreshing ways. It's stylish and commits fully to both the romantic and supernatural elements without sacrificing either.

But Only one season, and it ends on cliffhangers. The show's cancellation means you're signing up for an unfinished story with no resolution coming.

First Kill poster

Always Be My Maybe2019

Both explore how friendship is often the foundation of romance, and what happens when the person you're closest to becomes the person you want most.

A romantic comedy that actually has chemistry and humor. It smartly inverts the rom-com formula by starting with the couple already broken up, then having them rediscover each other as adults. Warm and funny without being cloying.

But It's interested in cultural specificity in a way that might feel tangential if you're just here for the romance. The film is also quieter than typical rom-coms—less pratfalls, more conversation.

Always Be My Maybe poster

Godless2017

Both center a young woman navigating competing romantic interests while discovering who she is independent of either of them. But where Kissing Booth finds that through comedy and melodrama, Godless finds it through survival and consequence.

A western miniseries where a woman runs an entire town. It's visually stunning, genuinely tense, and the romance develops through mutual respect and shared danger rather than melodrama. Only seven episodes—complete and satisfying.

But It's a serious western drama, not a comedy. Tone-wise it's miles from The Kissing Booth—slower, darker, grittier. If you're seeking lightness and humor, this will feel jarring.

Godless poster

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