Devouring This Year's Christmas Films: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.
‘Tis the season to slob out on the sofa and consume a packet of holiday pastries in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.
As always, a crop of latest seasonal stories strives to join part of our seasonal watchlist—perhaps even finding a spot alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).
So, in a vital public service to separate the winners from the losers, and to embrace the holiday mood, I marathoned as many fresh holiday releases as possible in a single day.
7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
Beginning, hopefully, on a high. This is the sole 2025 movie on a popular review site's list of the greatest 100 festive features of all time.
The popular band find themselves stuck in the UK after concluding their international trek and must make it back for Christmas. Their efforts are hindered by an evil Santa, who bursts into melody to declare they won’t get home until they “find their brotherly magic.”
The back-and-forth between the bickering brothers is amusing even for the casual viewer, while devotees will no doubt pick up on lots of references as they try to get back using any means of transport necessary.
It’s a travelogue of mishaps.
It’s not a timeless masterpiece, but is superb for devotees and a positive start to the day.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who are obliged to sit through it.
8.45am - Tinsel Town
Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a Hollywood star tricked into a "panto".
“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and older lead Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose representative has misled him into thinking he’s starring in renowned British drama.
His Aladdin fellow actors inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. One can imagine their reply. That is, unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional panto catchphrases.
There are some great jokes, some touching storylines, and the rest of the cast is excellent, too.
It’s the type of film that would be a bit cheesy at a different time, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
10.19am - Christmas Karma
A familiar face shows up at the beginning of this film, too, insulting someone for the second film in a row. Might this become a fresh holiday staple?
This time, he’s a singing black cab driver who encounters Mr Sood, the newest interpretation 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 director of Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative develops as the stingy Mr Sood is haunted by the apparitions of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.
This Indian Scrooge is at least unique from all the others, but sadly he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s performance is wooden—a problem when he’s so the main character.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
Noon: A BBC Special
There's just enough time for a channel's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “avoids Christmas.”
But after he receives an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) talks him into blowing the money on a vacation to Lapland.
There’s just one problem—he discovers there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to reimburse the difference.
Pleasant yet unmemorable.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems
This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the setting—Christmas is the scene 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 dispatched to a country estate to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. En route, she meets a guy in a bookshop who vows to show her the holidays in the City of Light.
A commentator recently stated this is the finest new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a overstatement, 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 particularly strong too.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄
A Charming Quest
Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, regardless of the efforts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the reality.
The secret is to be discovered, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the assistance of a team of well-known scientists and personalities.
It’s gentle but charming, and perfect viewing while anticipating Santa to visit.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄
4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.
Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a bickering American family who reunite for the holidays—including other acclaimed actress Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.
Pfeiffer starts by mentioning classic festive films like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before saying: “They need to make a movie about the true heroes of the holidays—moms.”
So that’s the concept, but in reality it’s really a combination of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually finds her strength.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄
Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret
The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the packed genre of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and strangely compelling—festive fodder.
It’s a story as well-worn: An American woman travels to a picturesque cold country and ends up stumbling across romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
