Elle and Lee’s clearest friendship rule is that neither should date the other’s relatives. That puts Lee’s older brother Noah off limits to Elle—and makes her romance with him the first film’s central test of loyalty, honesty, and friendship. Across the trilogy, the pact’s stakes shift from forbidden romance to distance and college plans, then to a choice about the future Elle once promised to share with Lee.
What is the rule that makes Noah off limits?
Elle Evans and Lee Flynn are lifelong best friends, and Noah is Lee’s older brother. Netflix Tudum states that Noah “is absolutely off limits according to the rules of Elle and Lee’s friendship pact.” The rule is straightforward: a friend’s relatives are not romantic options. Netflix Tudum’s overview of the films identifies the pact and the relationship that puts it under pressure.
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The first film is not simply about whether Elle and Noah are attracted to each other. Their relationship conflicts with an agreement that helps define Elle and Lee’s friendship. Keeping the romance secret adds a question of honesty to the original conflict: can Elle pursue what she wants without damaging her bond with Lee?
How does each film change the friendship pact’s stakes?
The Kissing Booth (2018): a forbidden romance
Netflix’s description of the first film says Elle’s first kiss leads to a forbidden romance that risks her relationship with her best friend. Noah is not just someone Lee disapproves of; he is the person the pact’s relatives rule excludes. The film’s central tension is the clash between Elle’s feelings for Noah and her commitment to Lee. Netflix’s page for The Kissing Booth describes that romance and its risk to the friendship.
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The Kissing Booth 2 (2020): distance, trust, and changing plans
With Noah at Harvard and Elle back for her senior year, the challenge expands beyond the original rule. Elle must navigate a long-distance relationship, college ambitions shared with Lee, and new romantic complications involving Marco and Noah’s growing closeness with Chloe. The question becomes whether Elle and Lee can stay close as their relationships and plans change. Netflix’s synopsis for The Kissing Booth 2 outlines the sequel’s setup.
Lee’s relationship with Rachel also shows how intense closeness between best friends can affect their partners. TIME’s review described Rachel as feeling like a third wheel around Elle and Lee, and noted the pressure surrounding Elle’s Boston applications and the pair’s Berkeley plan. That is a critical interpretation of the dynamic, rather than a formal rule of the pact. TIME’s 2020 review provides that perspective.
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The Kissing Booth 3 (2021): a promise about the future
By the final film, the defining question is no longer whom Elle may date. The official synopsis places her in the summer before college, choosing between moving across the country with Noah and fulfilling her lifelong promise to attend college with Lee. Their friendship now faces the challenge of making room for separate futures. Netflix’s synopsis for The Kissing Booth 3 frames the choice.
Are there other official rules?
The available official material clearly supports the rule about not dating a friend’s relatives, but it does not provide a complete, definitive numbered list of Elle and Lee’s rules across all three films. Avoid treating additional rules as canon unless they are directly established in a particular scene. The sources cited here also do not establish a comprehensive account of whether the pact is formally changed, replaced, or abandoned by the trilogy’s ending.
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How the films adapt the story
Netflix says the three films are inspired by characters from Beth Reekles’ 2012 young adult novel The Kissing Booth. The novel is a companion read for viewers interested in the story’s source, but that connection does not establish that every film rule or plot detail matches the book. In a Netflix corporate interview, Ian Bricke, vice president of independent film, described the appeal of following characters and actors over time as audiences grow alongside them. Netflix’s interview about the later films discusses that approach and the challenge of carrying characters forward while preserving continuity.
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