Marathon Viewing This Year's Holiday Movies: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights.
‘Tis the time of year to relax on the sofa and demolish a box of mince pies in front of a great film, a awful feature, or one that’s so bad it’s good.
This year, a batch of new Christmas films strives to join part of our festive viewing—potentially even earning a place alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).
So, in a helpful attempt to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to embrace the Christmas spirit, I watched as many recent holiday releases as possible in a single day.
7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
Kicking off, hopefully, on a positive note. This release is the only 2025 movie on a famous website's list of the greatest 100 Christmas movies of all time.
The musical trio find themselves stuck in the UK after wrapping up their world tour and must make it back for Christmas. Their efforts are hindered by an villainous Saint Nick, who bursts into melody to state they won’t get home until they “rekindle their familial spark.”
The banter between the squabbling siblings is entertaining even for the casual viewer, while followers will undoubtedly catch lots of references as they attempt to get back using all transportation available.
It’s a journey of epic proportions.
It’s not an all-time classic, but is great for devotees and a solid start to the day.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who will have to sit through it.
Next: A Star in Panto
Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a celebrity roped into a pantomime.
“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and older action hero Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose representative has misled him into thinking he’s starring in high-class London stage.
His pantomime co-stars inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he insists angrily. It's easy to predict their reply. That is, unless you’re not acquainted with traditional stage call-and-response.
There are some great jokes, some heartwarming sub-plots, and the ensemble is excellent, too.
It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit cheesy at any other time of year, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
10.19am - Christmas Karma
Danny Dyer pops up at the outset of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second film in a row. Might this become a fresh holiday staple?
This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who collects Mr Sood, the newest interpretation on Mr Scrooge from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Mr Sood is played by a star of Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story unfolds as the miserly Mr Sood is visited 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 distinct from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s acting is flat—a major flaw when he’s so the focal point.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
Noon: A BBC Special
Before lunch for a major broadcaster's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “isn't big on Christmas.”
But after he receives an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) persuades him splurging the cash on a family trip to Lapland.
There’s just one issue—he finds out there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to determine how to pay back the difference.
Fun while it lasts but not lasting.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
1.12pm - Champagne Problems
This is one of those holiday movies where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the background—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same.
Ambitious executive Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a French chateau to do a deal for a sparkling wine company. En route, she meets a man in a literary haven who offers to show her the holidays in the City of Light.
An expert recently declared this is the top new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a festive dalliance with a touch of class and gives the obligatory cozy feelings.
The scene with a extended debate about Die Hard is notable too.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄
3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas
Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, despite the persuasion of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the truth.
The secret is out there, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the expert help of a group of well-known scientists and personalities.
It’s low-key but sweet, and perfect viewing while expecting Santa to visit.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄
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 begins by referencing classic festive films like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before declaring: “They need to make a movie about the true heroes of the holidays—moms.”
So that’s what this is, but in reality it’s really a mash-up of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually comes into her own.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄
Formulaic Fun
The day’s taken a dip, but happily here’s a new offering in the crowded field of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and utterly watchable—festive fodder.
It’s a story as familiar as can be: An American woman goes on a quest to a picturesque cold country and ends up discovering romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher