โญ Cast: Joey King โข Jacob Elordi โข Joel Courtney โข Molly Ringwald
๐ญ Genres: Romance โข Coming-of-Age โข Comedy โข Drama
The Kissing Booth 4 (2026) returns with the most emotionally layered film in the franchise, following Elle Evans as she steps into adulthood with a clearer sense of ambition and identity. After graduating and carving out a future far from her high-school chaos, Elle believes she finally understands who she is without Noah or Lee defining her choices. Yet, life disrupts her plans when a homecoming celebration reunites the three friends at exactly the wrong time. Old sparks, unfinished apologies, and unresolved promises surface quickly, unraveling Elleโs hard-won stability.
This fourth entry embraces maturity while still honoring the bright energy that fans love. Romance becomes less about fate and more about compatibility, communication, and what young adults sacrifice to build a fulfilling life. Viewers are invited into a story where history and future collideโforcing Elle to ask whether first love is meant to last or simply teach us how to grow.
Elle faces memories she thought were buried
Elle begins the film confident and independent, but the return to her childhood home stirs feelings she assumed had faded. Familiar places ignite old stories and unfinished emotions that she never fully processed. Instead of turning away, Elle is forced to confront her past head-on, retracing decisions she made when she was unsure of who she wanted to be.
The movie uses these early conflicts to show how emotional growth is ongoing, and sometimes messy. Even when Elle tries to stay focused on the present, her past pushes back through friends, diaries, and even the bench where her first kiss happened. Ultimately, the story explores how healing doesnโt happen by runningโit happens when you look backward just long enough to understand what still matters.
Noah and Elle: chemistry that refuses to fade
Noahโs return complicates everything. Both older and more grounded, he carries regrets that clearly haunt him, especially the sense that he walked away too early. Meanwhile, Elle cannot deny the connection she once shared with him, even though logic tells her not to reopen a door that hurt her.
Their scenes together offer quiet tensionโconversations that feel gentle, cautious, and honest. The movie avoids melodrama and instead focuses on two people learning how to interact without losing themselves. Noah challenges Elle to consider whether love denied is harder to carry than love lost. Moreover, the film suggests that timing, maturity, and self-understanding shape relationships far more deeply than attraction ever did.
Lee and the weight of lifelong friendship
Leeโs storyline brings heart and gravity to The Kissing Booth 4 (2026). Though deeply loyal to Elle, he can no longer ignore how the triangle between them left scars. Returning home forces him to admit his jealousy, his fear of being replaced, and his wrong assumptions about what friendship must look like.
Because of this, Lee becomes a mirror for Elleโs own emotional evolution. While Elle navigates love, Lee struggles to define who he is beyond โbest friend.โ Their growth runs parallel, reminding audiences that friendships deserve as much communication, forgiveness, and clarity as romance. By the filmโs midpoint, their bond strengthensโnot through nostalgia, but through hard, honest conversations they avoided for years.
Love in adulthood is not a fairy tale
The fourth movie pushes its characters into real-life challenges: careers that demand relocation, expectations from family, and partners who want different things at different times. Romance is no longer spontaneous or convenient; it requires scheduling, choices, sacrifices, and sometimes letting go.
Elle learns that love alone cannot solve incompatibility or erase hurt. Meanwhile, Noah begins to understand that intensity and devotion mean little if they arenโt backed by shared goals. Their relationship becomes a case study in how early passion must evolve into respect and balance if it hopes to survive. The message feels groundedโlove grows up, even when people do not.
Secrets, confessions, and the risk of second chances
Revelations unfold gradually as characters admit mistakes they once buried. The screenplay leans into emotional silence and vulnerabilityโfear that telling the truth may destroy relationships that are already fragile. Secrets involving breakups, missed letters, and unspoken apologies add new texture without turning the story into melodrama.
Therefore, forgiveness becomes one of the strongest themes in The Kissing Booth 4 (2026). Yet it never appears easy or automatic. Instead, forgiveness must be earned through humility, accountability, and time. Whether characters reconcile romantically or simply reclaim respect, viewers see the power of choosing closure rather than avoiding it.
Rom-com joy, nostalgia, and chaotic surprises
Even with its growing maturity, the film still delivers laughter, awkward coincidences, and callbacks fans will adore. School carnivals, beach bonfires, dance-offs, andโof courseโa kissing booth return with new significance. Rom-com energy uplifts scenes that could otherwise feel heavy, offering balance between reflection and youthful fun.
Unexpected run-ins, spontaneous adventures, and unlucky timing keep tension high. These moments remind fans why the franchise became a cultural phenomenon: it captures the thrill of young love and the joy of taking risks before the world becomes too serious.
Becoming who you chooseโnot who you were
By the final act, the story pivots toward identity rather than romance. Elle realizes she cannot anchor her choices to people she used to beโor people she once loved. Her path requires her to honor her past without being confined by it.
The ending celebrates independence and emotional clarity, emphasizing that life rarely moves in straight lines. Whether Elle chooses Noah, chooses friendship alone, or chooses an entirely new direction, her decision feels earned. The message resonates: your truest relationship is the one you build with yourself.
๐ Premiere Information
Summer 2026 โ Netflix Global Release (expected)
โญ Rating Prediction
8.8/10 โ The most thoughtful, heartfelt, and mature entry in the sagaโproof that high-school stories can grow up beautifully.
Say โNext movie readyโ to keep rolling with the same locked format ๐