Devouring The Latest Holiday Movies: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.
It is the time of year to relax on the sofa and devour a packet of holiday pastries in front of a terrific flick, a poor film, or one that’s so bad it’s good.
This year, a batch of fresh Christmas films strives to join part of our seasonal watchlist—perhaps even joining the ranks alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).
So, in a noble effort to separate the winners from the losers, and to get into the festive feeling, I marathoned as many fresh Christmas films as possible in a single day.
Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
Beginning, ideally, on a high. This release is the sole 2025 movie on a well-known aggregator's list of the best 100 holiday films of all time.
The popular band are stuck in the UK after wrapping up their international trek and must return for Christmas. Their endeavors are hampered by an evil Santa, who sings to declare they won’t get home until they “find their familial spark.”
The back-and-forth between the squabbling siblings is enjoyable even for the uninitiated, while devotees will certainly catch lots of in-jokes as they attempt to get back using all transportation available.
It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.
It’s not legendary, but is excellent for devotees and a solid start to the day.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who will have to sit through it.
Late Morning: Tinsel Town
Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a Hollywood star tricked into a traditional British stage show.
“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and older lead Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose manager has tricked him into thinking he’s starring in renowned British drama.
His pantomime co-stars tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he retorts. One can imagine their retort. Unless you’re not acquainted with traditional stage call-and-response.
There are some hilarious moments, some cockle-warming sub-plots, and the supporting actors is cracking, too.
It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit cheesy at a different time, but is a great entertainment at Christmas.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma
An actor appears at the start of this film, too, insulting someone for the second film in a row. Is this a fresh holiday staple?
This time, he’s a singing black cab driver who collects Mr Sood, the newest interpretation on Mr Scrooge from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Mr Sood is played by an actor from Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by the filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story progresses as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is haunted by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.
This South Asian reinterpretation is at least unique from all the others, but sadly he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s acting is flat—a significant issue when he’s so central to everything.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
Lunchtime: Stuffed
There’s time for a major broadcaster's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “avoids Christmas.”
But after he receives an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) talks him into splurging the cash on a family trip to Lapland.
There’s just one issue—he learns there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to pay back the remainder.
Fun while it lasts but not lasting.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄
Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems
This is one of those Christmas films where the festive trappings are in the background—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.
High-powered businesswoman Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a vineyard to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. During her travels, she meets a man in a bookshop who promises to show her a festive Paris.
A critic recently declared this is the top new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a holiday love story with a dash of elegance and gives the obligatory heartwarming sensation.
The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is very good too.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄
3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas
Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, despite the persuasion of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the truth.
The truth is to be discovered, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the expert help of a team of well-known experts and celebrities.
It’s gentle but sweet, and perfect viewing while expecting Santa to visit.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄
A Star-Studded Family Drama
Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a bickering American family who gather for the holidays—including fellow acclaimed actress Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.
Pfeiffer opens by name-dropping Christmas classics like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before saying: “They need to make a movie about the unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”
So that’s what this is, but in practice it’s really a jumble of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last takes center stage.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
Formulaic Fun
The day’s taken a dip, but thankfully here’s a new offering in the packed genre of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and utterly watchable—seasonal comfort food.
It’s a narrative as well-worn: An American woman journeys to a far-off wintery locale and ends up discovering romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
