Noel

Noel - A Sweet Christmas Tale

 An innocent and kind-hearted young man, Noel still believes in Father Christmas. After his Nana dies, he must cope with her death while holding onto his beliefs as he encounters the frivolousness and bitterness of first love, in a story that is both a coming-of-age story and, at the same time, not one. Christmas is probably the most celebrated holiday all around the world and, because of that, it’s probably the holiday with the most stories associated with it. Stories to make us feel warm in the cold winter nights. With Noel, Matthew Reynolds takes a dip at this sea of sweet and youthful stories to tell his own Christmas tale. But is he able to enchant us with his holiday fable?

 Noel feels like a departure from Reynolds’s previous work, dominated by a corrosive satire. It’s a film filled to the brim with sweetness and naiveté, carefully baked into a warm Christmas pudding of a film. However, although with a naïve sugar coating, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t deal with harder issues at its core. This isn’t a simple children’s holiday film, it’s a film that is made for adults and it helps us tap into our inner children through a story that is at its heart about grief and maturing, while still cherishing one’s childishness. Connor O’Neill is the heart of the film and is genuinely delightful as Noel, holding a levity that charms us, really touching us into that childish side that wants to believe in the fantasy. He touches us and moves this film with his performance.

 Of course, the film isn’t just O’Neill. Noel is also shot beautifully, with many truly dazzling shots that capture perfectly the magic of the season. Matthew Reynolds shows a visual mastery that is truly impressive with the minimal budget. The music used is also one of the true highlights of the film. It sets the mood perfectly to this story of coming-of-age that holds onto a certain innocence. Another striking aspect is the editing and sound design, which truly is impressive, especially in a particular scene where Reynolds achieves an unsettlingly dizzying emotional explosion that is truly stirring.

 However, this effort into less sarcastic material isn’t without its flaws. One of the parts that makes up this Christmas tale is a romance when Noel meets a girl – played by Morgana Norcross – and falls in love with her, or at least an idea of her. This is where I think lies a flaw in Noel. The romance between Noel and the girl feels a bit forced and contrived, with their encounter feeling awkward and a bit too out of the blue. The dialogue between them, and generally throughout the film, feels a bit clunky and many times working against the emotion of the film. Norcross’s performance also didn’t really make a big impact on me either, feeling strange and hindering a bit the scenes, although she also holds a certain loveliness that works for her character. Furthermore, her reaction to Noel’s innocence feels a bit engineered. Although well-acted, the mood swing of that scene feels somewhat strange.

 In Matthew Reynolds’s previous film, Illegal Being, I also disliked the romantic aspect of it, and that seems to be the main issue I have in this short. Truly, romance doesn’t seem to be Matthew Reynolds’s forte, although he does a commendable effort to depict it. And, despite this flaw, I found that it holds sweetness and heart that one can’t help but love, that is beautifully constructed by these young filmmakers that still show their talent through this delightful tale that ends in a delicious note that truly reminds us of the purpose deep in the Christmas spirit.

Noel will be available on YouTube on December 7th at Some Guys With a Camera's channel.