The Noel Diary

The Noel Diary (2022) is a Christmas romantic drama from director Charles Shyer you can watch online on iFILM. Justin Hartley plays a successful novelist who returns to his childhood home after his estranged mother dies — and finds himself sorting through decades of silence.

Tucked inside the house is an old diary. Then Rachel shows up on the doorstep looking for her birth mother, who she believes once worked there as a nanny. Barrett Doss plays Rachel with a quiet persistence that balances Hartley's closed-off novelist nicely. The mystery at the center resolves gently — this isn't a thriller, it's a film about two people allowing themselves to be found.

Based on Richard Paul Evans' novel, the film leans fully into the cozy-holiday register: low stakes, warm light, and a romance that earns its ending. Stream The Noel Diary (2022) online on iFILM — the right pick for a December evening when you want warmth rather than plot twists.