Binge-Watching The Latest Holiday Movies: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.
‘Tis the season to relax on the sofa and devour a tin of holiday pastries in front of a terrific flick, a bad movie, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.
This year, a selection of fresh Christmas films aims to become part of our holiday traditions—potentially even earning a place alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).
So, in a helpful attempt to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to get into the Christmas spirit, I marathoned as many fresh Christmas films as possible in a single day.
7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
Beginning, hopefully, on a positive note. This film is the sole 2025 title on a well-known aggregator's list of the greatest 100 Christmas movies of all time.
The Jonas Brothers find themselves trapped in the UK after wrapping up their international trek and must return for Christmas. Their endeavors are thwarted by an evil Santa, who sings to declare they won’t get home until they “rekindle their familial spark.”
The repartee between the arguing trio is amusing even for the uninitiated, while devotees will certainly catch lots of references as they endeavor to get back using every mode of travel possible.
It’s a travelogue of mishaps.
It’s not a timeless masterpiece, but is excellent for fans and a positive start to the day.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who are obliged to sit through it.
Next: A Star in Panto
Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland stars as a movie actor roped into a "panto".
“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and ageing action hero Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose agent has misled him into thinking he’s performing in renowned British drama.
His Aladdin cast-mates inform him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he insists angrily. You can guess their reply. Unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional stage call-and-response.
There are some great jokes, some touching sub-plots, and the rest of the cast is cracking, too.
It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit cheesy at another season, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma
An actor appears at the beginning of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the next movie straight. Could this be a budding festive ritual?
This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who picks up Mr Sood, the latest spin 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative unfolds as the miserly Mr Sood is confronted 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 distinct from all the others, but sadly he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s performance is flat—a problem when he’s so the focal point.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
Noon: A BBC Special
Before lunch for a channel's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”
But after he is awarded an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) talks him into spending the sum on a vacation to Lapland.
There’s just one issue—he finds out there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to pay back the difference.
Fun while it lasts but not lasting.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄
Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems
This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the setting—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same.
Ambitious executive Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a French chateau to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. En route, she runs into a guy in a book store who promises to show her Christmas in Paris.
An expert recently declared this is the finest new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a festive dalliance with a dash of elegance and gives the obligatory cozy feelings.
The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is very good too.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄
Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas
Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, despite the efforts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him otherwise.
The answer is somewhere, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the assistance of a group of well-known figures.
It’s understated but sweet, and good viewing while anticipating Santa to visit.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄
Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.
Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a bickering American family who gather for the holidays—including fellow Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.
Pfeiffer begins by referencing 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 the premise, but in practice it’s really a mash-up of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally takes center stage.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret
The day’s gone downhill, but fortunately here’s a new offering in the saturated market of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and utterly watchable—festive fodder.
It’s a tale as well-worn: An American woman goes on a quest to a picturesque cold country and ends up stumbling across romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
