Disney+ “Noelle” Holiday Movie [Review]

Title: Noelle

Studio: Disney Plus

Director: Marc Lawrence

Main Actors: Anna Kendrick, Bill Hader, Shirley MacLaine

Run Time: 1 hr. 40 mins.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

It’s that time of year where holiday movies and shows are being released for families, couples, and friends to enjoy. Also, who doesn’t like a good holiday movie to get you in the spirit of Christmas? Disney Plus released a film a holiday movie called “Noelle.” It’s about how Santa’s daughter, Noelle (Anna Kendrick), helps her brother Nick (Bill Hader) train to be the next Santa. But things take a turn where she finds herself becoming Santa, a female Santa Claus that is.

“Noelle” begins somewhere in the North Pole, where Noelle (Kendrick) narrates how she loves Christmas and how she enjoys waiting up for Santa, (her dad) to come home. In the movie, we see that Noelle and Nick (Hader) are opening presents, Noelle receives a box full of little things, and then we see that Nick received Santa’s hat. Receiving Santa’s hat is a big thing in the film; it meant that Nick was ready to start training to become the next Santa Claus. This is where we find out that Santa’s family comes from a long line of Kringles and must pass on the torch to the next Kringle of the family. You can tell that Noelle is a bit sad about the decision but will continue to spread her jolly personality around to others; by creating Christmas cards and ribbons.

Her brother, Nick, is stressed out about the Santa training, and Noelle advises him to relax and ends up running away from the North Pole. It is up to her to find Nick and to bring him home in time for Christmas. She tracks him down in Phoenix, Arizona, and hires a private investigator to help her look for Nick. While she is out in Phoenix, she notices what the world is like outside the North Pole and that not everything is always jolly and colorful. She finds herself about to understand and communicate with others in a way most can’t; it turns out to be some Santa power and something her brother doesn’t have. All-in-all, Noelle becomes the next female Santa Claus and is figuring out what works for her.

The plot of the film was new and fresh, and it’s not your typical Santa Claus films where Santa isn’t able to deliver the presents on time and such. This time it’s about Santa’s daughter wanting to take on more responsible roles. Still, instead, she is helping her brother to become the next Santa. During the film, Noelle tells her brother that Santa knows and understands different languages. There was an instance where Noelle ends up having a conversation with a deaf little girl, and she doesn’t know sign. This is where you can pick up the clues that Noelle has Santa powers, and that she is possibly going to be the next Santa. Which would make sense, because her brother, Nick, doesn’t have that connection with kids at all?

Anna Kendrick did a great job in this film, and it might be one of the best movies she has done, other than the Pitch Perfect series. She is funny, cute, amusing, cheerful, and charming; her acting wasn’t bland, and it wasn’t dull. Kendrick, in past films, her acting can be a bit tiresome, but in “Noelle,” her acting was fresh and funny. It was interesting to see actors who have been in other non-kid friendly movies and shows acting in a Disney film; they all brought their flare to it. We are used to Bill Hader being overly funny and hyper, but in this film, he was calm and not as funny as we like him to be.

The dialogue in the film wasn’t cringey; it seemed smooth and natural; it wasn’t forced, as some Disney movies and shows could be. It wasn’t boring; it made you want to pay attention to what is happening because there are some funny moments and some heartwarming moments as well. There was a scene where Noelle is inside of a refrigerator keeping herself cool, a lady comes up to the door and asks for popsicles. Noelle then comments on her flower printed yoga pants, and the lady says something like, it’s like your yoga pants, and Noelle thinks that she said, “yogurt pants.” (This was probably one of my favorite scenes in the film) Towards the end of the scene, Noelle visits the homeless shelter where the deaf girls sleep, and she ends up waking up and calling Noelle, Santa Claus. It was touching because Noelle was feeling insecure about taking on the role of Santa and having the little girl call her Santa made her sentimental.

Overall, this film is worth watching if you like holiday movies and if you don’t, give it a try and watch it. Noelle, I would say that it’s not like your typical Hallmark movie; where the leading character falls in love with someone from their small town. This film at times feels like it’s drifting to that hallmark feel, but surprisingly it doesn’t. Typical Hollywood Christmas movies do fall in the line of romance and love; which is great at times, but sometimes we need a good Christmas comedy and that is what Noelle is. Usually, I only watch the same holiday movies every year, but this one made it to my list. Not only is it because there’s a female Santa but because the plot is different and fresh. It’s not cringy as most holiday movies are, like Hallmark holiday movies. It’s new, in a sense where you can see that Disney is starting to merge into this progressive road, that most people might like and approve. Disney, the actors, and the director did an excellent job with this film, and I would end up watching it again this holiday season.