We’ve been ready for The Noel Diary ever since it was announced back in 2020 and Netflix finally delivered an official trailer.
Starring Justin Hartley, it tells the story of a famous novelist who has put his past firmly behind him. That all comes crashing down when he gets a call that his mother has died unexpectedly. This event forces him to return back home, see his father once more, and start to pick through what made him the man he is today. What he doesn’t expect is to meet a woman trying to find her mother and her connection to his own family.
Played by Barrett Doss, this woman is actively seeking her past. She wants to know who her mother is and why she abandoned her. And it has to do with his mother. So she will do anything to get the answers that she needs. And if that means taking a snowy journey, straight out of a contemporary romance novel, then she’ll do it. The beginnings of romance follow soon after as these two get to know each other and piece together the parts of the past that they should embrace and let go.
The Noel Diary is based on the novel by Richard Paul Evans. In the book, Jacob Churcher is a novelist who gets a call the day before Christmas informing him that his mother has passed. He, like in the movie, hasn’t seen her for a very long time. And when he heads home to settle her estate, he encounters a woman named Rachel, who is looking for information on her adoption 30 years ago. Together they begin searching for the owner of a diary that Richard finds in his home and that was Rachel’s mother.
And you guessed it, the diary owner was named Noel.
From the movie description, trailer, and book synopsis, this story has the making of a contemporary romance. (Which this author loves.) It’s got two possible love interests set in modern times, with complex storytelling based on characters that aren’t looking marriage or children as a means of survival, and just enough of a focus on the characters individual journeys that it borders on women’s fiction. Which, always a plus.
And if we get more trailers, here’s hoping we get more of Doss. Because yes, Hartley is well know. But she seems to be carrying a different kind of emotional weight in this story and that deserves to be explored through her eyes and not just the hot guy. That means that we hope this movie pays off by giving Doss’ character the screentime she needs to grow, which having Hartley’s character by her side and she by his.
Check out the trailer for The Noel Diary below:
The Noel Diary premieres on Netflix on November 24, 2022.
