Joey King stars once again as Elle Evans in Netflix’s Kissing Booth 3, but how old is she in this film? The teen romantic comedy was released on Netflix in August 2021 as the final installment of Vince Marcello’s trilogy, based on Beth Reekles’ books. While the previous two movies took place during Elle’s high school years, Kissing Booth 3 covers the summer following her graduation as well as a time skip, making it difficult to discern how old she is throughout the movie.
Set during a Los Angeles summer, Kissing Booth 3 follows Elle after high school as she continues to struggle between attending Harvard with her boyfriend Noah Flynn (Jacob Elordi), or UC Berkeley with her best friend, Lee Flynn (Joel Courtney). Elle ultimately decides to attend Harvard with Noah, and spends the summer completing a childhood bucket list with Lee as one final celebration before they go their separate ways. As her relationships with both Noah and Lee strain, Elle realizes that she’s forgotten to consider her own dreams for the future, and resolves to study game design at the University of Southern California (USC) instead. The film ends with a time skip 6 years after the fateful summer, showing the group at an impromptu reunion after college graduation, reminiscing on their time at the eponymous kissing booth.
With high school graduation behind her, Elle is roughly 18 at the start of Kissing Booth 3, which makes her 24 after the film’s 6-year time skip. This would make Kissing Booth series never specifies the year Elle was born, the opening montage from the trilogy’s first movie can provide clues to the age.
The first Kissing Booth establishes that Elle was born during summertime on June 7. During the opening Dance Dance Revolution montage, a subtitle shows she’s 16 around the beginning of the summer season. Since the plot of the movie picks up at the start of the school year, after June, this would make Elle 17 years old during her junior year. This follows that she was 18 at the start of time skip in Kissing Booth 3.
After Elle says her goodbyes and make her decision to attend USC, the film skips 6 years into the future. Boasting a bold pixie cut and fitted blazer, the now-24-year-old displays a new maturity, having become a college graduate and working game designer. Her age becomes a symbol of her new sense of self, having moved away (physically and figuratively) from the relationships that strained her in the beginning part of the film. Elle is now an adult, having learned from her experiences and being all the better for it. Kissing Booth 3 focuses this time on Elle and her growth as a young woman. It’s a fitting end to a teen romance series, as Elle finally focuses on herself and her own aspirations. As she turns from a young 18-year-old into a confident 24-year-old, her journey brings the trilogy’s coming-of-age theme to its final resolution.
