Binge-Watching The Latest Holiday Movies: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.
It is the time of year to slob out on the sofa and devour a tin of festive treats in front of a terrific flick, a awful feature, or one that’s so bad it’s good.
This year, a selection of latest seasonal stories hopes to be part of our seasonal watchlist—maybe even finding a spot alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).
So, in a vital public service to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to find the Christmas spirit, I marathoned as many fresh festive movies as possible in a single day.
7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
Beginning, ideally, on a good foot. This film is the only 2025 entry on a well-known aggregator's list of the greatest 100 festive features of all time.
The popular band end up stranded in the UK after wrapping up their world tour and must get home for Christmas. Their attempts are hindered by an evil Santa, who sings to state they won’t get home until they “rekindle their brotherly magic.”
The back-and-forth between the squabbling siblings is amusing even for the uninitiated, while followers will undoubtedly notice lots of references as they attempt to get back using all transportation available.
It’s a travelogue of mishaps.
It’s not an all-time classic, but is great for devotees and a solid start to the day.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who will have to sit through it.
8.45am - Tinsel Town
A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland stars as a celebrity roped into a "panto".
“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and older star Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose representative has deceived him into thinking he’s starring in high-class London stage.
His Aladdin co-stars inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he retorts. You can guess their response. That is, unless you’re not acquainted with traditional British theatre traditions.
There are some hilarious moments, some heartwarming side stories, and the supporting actors is brilliant, too.
It’s the type of film that would be a bit naff at any other time of year, but is a great entertainment at Christmas.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
A New Spin on Scrooge
An actor pops up at the outset of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the next movie straight. Might this become a new Christmas tradition?
This time, he’s a singing black cab driver who encounters Mr Sood, the modern take on Mr Scrooge from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Mr Sood is played by The Big Bang Theory’s Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by the filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative unfolds as the miserly Mr Sood is confronted by the ghosts of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.
This South Asian reinterpretation is at least unique from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s portrayal is wooden—a significant issue when he’s so the focal point.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
12.04pm - Stuffed
There's just enough time for a channel's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”
But after he is awarded an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) talks him into spending the sum on a holiday to Lapland.
There’s just one snag—he learns there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to reimburse the difference.
Fun while it lasts but not lasting.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
A Classy Netflix Romance
This is one of those Christmas films where the decorations and snow are in the backdrop—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels cosy and festive all the same.
High-powered businesswoman Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a French chateau to secure an acquisition for a champagne business. On the way, she runs into a guy in a literary haven who offers to show her Christmas in Paris.
A commentator recently declared this is the top new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a holiday love story with a dash of elegance and gives the obligatory warm and fuzzy feels.
The scene with a extended debate about Die Hard is very good too.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄
Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas
Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, regardless of the persuasion of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the truth.
The secret is out there, and Chris sets out to find it with the expert help of a team of well-known scientists and personalities.
It’s low-key but sweet, and good viewing while expecting Santa to visit.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄
4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.
Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a quarrelling American family who come back together for the holidays—including other acclaimed actress Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.
Pfeiffer starts by mentioning Christmas classics like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before stating: “They need to make a movie about the real champions of the holidays—moms.”
So that’s what this is, but in execution it’s really a combination of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally finds her strength.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
Formulaic Fun
The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new addition in the saturated market of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and strangely compelling—holiday fare.
It’s a tale as well-worn: An American woman travels to a far-off wintery locale and ends up stumbling across romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher