History YMMV / TheKissingBooth

* HarsherInHindsight: If not HilariousInHindsight if viewed as a bit of a TakeThat. Noah's anger management problems and poor treatment of Elle have been criticized by many people as making him seem abusive and toxic. Creator/JacobElordi later went on to play Nate in ''Series/{{Euphoria}}'' who is not too dissimilar from Noah, except in this case his troubling behavior is cranked up to eleven and played deadly seriously. Nate can even be seen as an outright {{deconstruction}} of Noah.

* HarsherInHindsight: If not HilariousInHindsight if viewed as a bit of a TakeThat. Noah's anger management problems and poor treatment of Elle have been criticized by many people as making him seem abusive and toxic. Jacob Elordi later went on to play Nate in ''Series/{{Euphoria}}'' who is not too dissimilar from Noah, except in this case his troubling behavior is cranked up to eleven and played deadly seriously. Nate can even be seen as an outright {{deconstruction}} of Noah.

* HarsherInHindsight: If not HilariousInHindsight if viewed as a bit of a TakeThat. Noah's anger management problems and poor treatment of Elle have been criticized by many people as making him seem abusive and toxic. Jacob Elordi later went on the play Nate in ''Series/{{Euphoria}}'' who is not too dissimilar from Noah, except in this case his troubling behavior is cranked up to eleven and played deadly seriously. Nate can even be seen as an outright {{deconstruction}} of Noah.

* IdiotPlot: A lot of the drama in the second half of the movie could probably have been avoided if Elle and Noah had just been honest with Lee about how they felt right from the start.

* HarsherInHindsight: If not HilariousInHindsight if viewed as a bit of a TakeThat. Noah's anger management problems and poor treatment of Elle have been criticized by many people as making him seem abusive and toxic. Jacob Elordi later went on the play Nate in ''Series/{{Euphoria}}'' who is not too dissimilar from Noah, except in this case his troubling behavior is cranked UpToEleven and played deadly seriously. Nate can even be seen as an outright {{deconstruction}} of Noah.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Arguably all three main protagonists at some point, though [[BastardBoyfriend Noah]] especially. All of them manage to be rather unpleasant in their own way.

** Noah is horrible to [[BastardBoyfriend Elle]] and [[BigBrotherBully his brother]] a lot of the time, and a dick for not telling Lee about the relationship or encouraging Elle to come clean about it. The only excuse he has for all his {{jerkass}} behavior is that he has unresolved anger issues and is "wired that way", but this seems like a pretty flimsy explanation for tormenting Lee, controlling who Elle dates without her knowledge and consent, and beating the snot out of anyone who riles him up [[DisproportionateRetribution even a little]].

* UnfortunateImplications: A lot of [[https://www.queensjournal.ca/story/2018-09-13/pop-culture/the-kissing-booth-normalizes-potentially-abusive-behaviour/ the]] [[https://www.indiewire.com/2018/05/the-kissing-booth-netflix-teen-romantic-comedy-sexist-1201969234/ film’s]] [[https://mashable.com/2018/06/15/the-kissing-booth-review-netflix/#06S.Y3_bAkq1 detractors]] [[https://www.bustle.com/p/the-kissing-booth-on-netflix-may-be-a-hit-but-it-has-a-seriously-problematic-plot-9618371 have]] [[https://www.dailydot.com/upstream/kissing-booth-review/ pointed out]] that Noah comes across as quite abusive and controlling towards Elle, which is never really condemned in the movie itself, and has other content that comes off as outdated and sexist.

* AccidentalNightmareFuel: The scene where Noah and Elle argue at a beach party is intended to be a dramatic moment, but many viewers thought it went beyond a lover's tiff situation into far more disturbing territory on account of Noah's behavior. After Noah beats the crap out of a guy for insulting Elle despite her urging him to let it go, she gets annoyed and storms off. Noah runs after her and starts repeatedly begging her to get in the car; she ignores him until Noah slams his hand on the car roof and [[SuddenlyShouting shouts at her]], leaving her shocked. It unintentionally came off as extremely uncomfortable, due to Noah (who is much taller and stronger than Elle) essentially trying to intimidate her into getting into a car where she'll be completely at his mercy. The fact he doesn't respect her initial refusal and her alarm at his outburst does not help in the slightest, nor does the fact that when she ''does'' get in the car he drives her to a seemingly remote location instead of her house (which is played off as romantic).

* ClicheStorm: A common criticism of the film is that it's jam-packed with teen romance cliches that were already seen as hackneyed about two decades ago. As Cynical Reviews notes at the beginning of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZNbHx_H1_s his review]] of the movie "If you've seen more than two films in this genre, then you've already seen this one".