The Noel Diary director on adding ‘substance’ to genre with cosiest Christmas movie yet-Rishma Dosani-Entertainment – Metro

You’ve probably noticed the abundance of festive films that popped up as soon as the clock hit midnight on October 31, when Halloween was officially over and Mariah Carey awoke from her slumber.

The latest offering to hit Netflix might be the coziest one yet, with Justin Hartley, Barrett Doss and Bonnie Bedelia leading the way in the Noel Diary.

The film follows best-selling author Jake Turner (Justin) as he returns to his family home at Christmas to settle his late mother’s estate, where he discovers a mysterious diary that may hold secrets to his own past, as well as that of Rachel (Barrett) – an intriguing young woman on a mission of her own.

Acclaimed director Charles Shyer was behind the camera for the movie, and told Metro.co.uk why he decided to jump on board the Christmas train.

‘Netflix came to me – they’d come to me with other Christmas movies that I never wanted to do,’ he told us. ‘The kind that you’ve been watching, I’m sure, for the past month or so.

‘Then this came along and it was a Christmas movie without being a Christmas movie. It was a movie that existed without the holidays, it embellished, and it gave a tone to the movie.

Justin Hartley leads the way in a new Netflix film, The Noel Diary (Picture: Netflix)

‘I love movies that take place in winter, that have weather. I felt I could take this original story and turn it into something that could have a chance of doing well.’

Despite being filmed in the middle of summer in Connecticut, in 95 degree heat, Justin and co were plonked down in a winter wonderland to unpack the mystery hidden in the pages of the diary.

Sadly, except for a few soap suds floating around, the majority of the snow-covered landscapes were all incorporated with visual effects added afterwards.

But that didn’t stop the cast having an absolute whale of a time on set, Justin insisted.

The film lands on Netflix on November 24 – and it is an instant classic (Picture: Netflix)

‘It was wonderful, it was really great,’ he said. ‘It’s a dream – you get a great script, you get a great character to play, a great cast to be around, and then you get a leader like Charles.

‘If we mess this up, we should just quit altogether! It was a really great experience.’

‘It was all such a joy making this movie,’ Charles agreed. ‘It was just all a really pleasurable experience. I had a great time making this movie. It was the best time I’ve ever had.’

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The filmmaker, who has helmed Father of the Bride, Alfie and Irreconcilable Differences among many others throughout his career, also vowed that he didn’t want to make a film without ‘substance’.

‘I don’t want to sound pretentious but we tried to make a movie that had substance, that had a real story to tell,’ he added.

‘It wasn’t just a rom-com where people bump into each other and fall in love. We tried to make it a story about real people and real issues, with real actors.’

The Noel Diary premieres on Netflix on November 24.

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