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The Noel Diary

Play trailer 2:46 Poster for The Noel Diary 2022 1h 39m Holiday Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
73% Tomatometer 15 Reviews 61% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
When best-selling author Jake Turner (Justin Hartley) returns home at Christmas to settle his estranged mother's estate, he discovers a diary that may hold secrets to his own past and that of Rachel (Barrett Doss) -- an intriguing young woman on a mission of her own. Together, they embark on a journey to confront their pasts and discover a future that's totally unexpected.
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The Noel Diary

Critics Reviews

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Noel Murray Los Angeles Times Nov 25, 2022
Ditch the mistletoe and holly and it would still be a well-crafted, well-balanced character sketch, following two lost souls as they discover what they’ve been missing. Go to Full Review
Lisa Kennedy New York Times Nov 24, 2022
Director Charles Shyer brings a journeyman’s ease to the screenplay (based on Richard Paul Evans’s novel by the same name): embracing holiday movie expectations here, gently deflecting them there. Go to Full Review
Erin Maxwell LA Weekly/Village Voice Dec 24, 2022
It still falls in the category of “passable entertainment” for hopeless romantics and people on heavy medication. Tis the season. Go to Full Review
Chris Joyce Movies and Munchies (YouTube) Dec 9, 2022
2/5
The Noel Diary features charismatic characters in a story that has a lot of potential but squanders it through rushed storytelling and odd stylistic choices. Go to Full Review
Eddie Harrison film-authority.com Dec 5, 2022
2/5
…mocking a bad Xmas film is part of the fun of the holiday; the best that can be said for The Noel Diary is that it fully deserves our derision…. Go to Full Review
Lissete Lanuza Sáenz Fangirlish Dec 4, 2022
The Noel Diary is about the things that make us who we are, how we piece together the past to make our own lives, and almost as importantly, about finding the strength to take a chance – not just on love, but on yourself. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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av 8 @anagha.vinay 2 days ago Eh, but why do engaged people act like this, and why is that so idealized and funny?? It could have been a beautiful movie. I find it icky that this guy was willing to go to great, unfathomable lengths, including reconciliations, for the diary of the mother of a girl he literally just saw across the street. The premises wasn't as promising, and the only satisfying thing about the whole movie was the gentle snow. See more Pete @PanhandlePete Jan 27, 2026 Strong chemistry between the main characters, pacing was good, loved the doo- wop soundtrack in the right places. See more Kat Q @RT49948663 Dec 31, 2025 Cheesy movie. I didn't realize we had a mountain range in Chicago...? Cute but too many weird scenes were distracting. A motorcycle parked outside by the front door of a luxury home in the middle of winter? Ohhh he's a bad boy? Get it now. See more Laurie E. @Laurielye Dec 20, 2025 Nice feel good Christmas romantic comedy See more Benjamin G @BxDxGx Dec 6, 2025 This take is a little better than your average Christmas movie with plenty of room to tease its tropes. Such a thing has evolved into a somewhat yearly tradition due to the never-ending barrage of formulaic Hallmark-sequence films that get released every year prior to December 25th, each with their own updated spin on what women want in men for Christmas this season. I couldn’t help but notice that this main character is a +6’ all-American high school football star who managed to become a #1 best-selling author (as if that has ever happened in the history of America), he makes millions of dollars and happens to be really stylish, introspective, and good looking all at the same time. This film could almost better serve as a study of social dynamics in correlation with the dating crisis in the U.S., I’m sure it goes the other way too. Regardless of how telling such a character is about the female psyche, the story adds some edge via troubled pasts with holiday hope. See more Eva S @RT04490515 Dec 4, 2025 Very good story with very believable actors and great chemistry. Unfortunately the ending was not enough to tie up the film. Definitely worth watching. See more Read all reviews
The Noel Diary

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Movie Info

Synopsis When best-selling author Jake Turner (Justin Hartley) returns home at Christmas to settle his estranged mother's estate, he discovers a diary that may hold secrets to his own past and that of Rachel (Barrett Doss) -- an intriguing young woman on a mission of her own. Together, they embark on a journey to confront their pasts and discover a future that's totally unexpected.
Director
Charles Shyer
Producer
Margret H. Huddleston, Timothy O. Johnson, Stephanie Slack
Screenwriter
David Golden, Charles Shyer
Distributor
Netflix
Production Co
Johnson Production Group, Netflix Studios, Synthetic Cinema International
Genre
Holiday, Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 18, 2022, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 24, 2022
Runtime
1h 39m
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