Devouring The Latest Christmas Films: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.
‘Tis the time of year to lounge on the sofa and demolish a tin of holiday pastries in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s so bad it’s good.
Once again, a crop of fresh holiday movies strives to join part of our festive viewing—potentially even finding a spot alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).
Therefore, in a noble effort to separate the winners from the losers, and to embrace the Christmas spirit, I binged as many fresh holiday releases as possible in a single day.
First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick
Starting, ideally, on a high. This film 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 stranded in the UK after concluding their world tour and must get home for Christmas. Their efforts are thwarted by an malevolent Father Christmas, who breaks into song to announce they won’t get home until they “rekindle their familial spark.”
The banter between the squabbling siblings is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while devotees will certainly notice lots of in-jokes as they try to get back using any means of transport necessary.
It’s a travelogue of mishaps.
It’s not an all-time classic, but is excellent for devotees and a positive start to the day.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who will have to sit through it.
Late Morning: Tinsel Town
A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland stars as a Hollywood star roped into a "panto".
“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and ageing lead Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose manager has misled him into thinking he’s appearing in renowned British drama.
His Aladdin fellow actors tell him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he retorts. One can imagine their reply. Except if you’re unfamiliar with traditional British theatre traditions.
There are some very funny lines, some cockle-warming storylines, and the rest of the cast is excellent, too.
It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit naff at any other time of year, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
10.19am - Christmas Karma
An actor pops up at the beginning of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second film in a row. Might this become a budding festive ritual?
This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who collects 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale progresses as the miserly Mr Sood is haunted by the ghosts of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.
This Indian Scrooge is at least different from all the others, but sadly he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s acting is lifeless—a major flaw when he’s so central to everything.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
12.04pm - Stuffed
Before lunch for a channel's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “isn't big on Christmas.”
But after he receives an large festive windfall at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) convinces him spending the sum on a vacation to Lapland.
There’s just one problem—he discovers there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to determine how to reimburse the remainder.
Pleasant yet unmemorable.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
A Classy Netflix Romance
This is one of those holiday movies where the decorations and snow are in the backdrop—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same.
High-powered businesswoman Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a country estate to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. During her travels, she encounters a fellow in a bookshop who vows to show her the holidays in the City of Light.
A critic recently stated this is the top new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a Christmas romance with a touch of class and gives the required heartwarming sensation.
The scene with a extended debate about Die Hard is very good too.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄
A Charming Quest
Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, in spite of the efforts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the truth.
The secret is to be discovered, and Chris sets out to find it with the expert help of a team of well-known figures.
It’s understated but sweet, and ideal viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄
Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.
Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a quarrelling American family who come back together for the holidays—including fellow Oscar nominee 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 stating: “They need to make a movie about the true heroes of the holidays—moms.”
So that’s the concept, but in practice it’s really a jumble of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally takes center stage.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret
The day’s waned in quality, but happily here’s a new entry in the packed genre of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and highly entertaining—festive fodder.
It’s a story as old as time: An American woman goes on a quest to a far-off wintery locale and ends up discovering romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher