Devouring This Year's Christmas Films: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights.
‘Tis the season to relax on the sofa and demolish a packet of holiday pastries in front of a good movie, a poor film, or one that’s so bad it’s good.
Once again, a batch of fresh seasonal stories aims to become part of our holiday traditions—potentially even finding a spot alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).
So, in a noble effort to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to find the holiday mood, I marathoned as many new festive movies as possible in a single day.
7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
Starting, hopefully, on a positive note. This film is the exclusive 2025 entry on a popular review site's list of the top 100 festive features of all time.
The popular band find themselves trapped in the UK after finishing their global concert series and must return for Christmas. Their attempts are thwarted by an villainous Saint Nick, who bursts into melody to declare they won’t get home until they “rediscover their familial spark.”
The banter between the bickering brothers is enjoyable even for the non-fan, while fans will certainly notice lots of easter eggs as they try to get back using any means of transport necessary.
It’s a travelogue of mishaps.
It’s not legendary, but is excellent for fans and a good start to the day.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who are obliged to sit through it.
Next: A Star in Panto
Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland appears as a movie actor tricked into a "panto".
“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and aging action hero Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose agent has tricked him into thinking he’s appearing in prestigious English theatre.
His Aladdin co-stars tell him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he insists angrily. It's easy to predict their reply. That is, unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional stage call-and-response.
There are some hilarious moments, some heartwarming sub-plots, and the ensemble is excellent, too.
It’s the sort of feature 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 appears at the outset of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the next movie straight. Is this a fresh holiday staple?
This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who encounters 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 the director of Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale 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 Indian Scrooge is at least distinct from all the others, but sadly he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s performance is lifeless—a significant issue when he’s so the main character.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
12.04pm - Stuffed
There’s time for a network's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”
But after he gets an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) convinces him blowing the money on a family trip to Lapland.
There’s just one snag—he discovers there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to return the difference.
Enjoyable but forgettable.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
A Classy Netflix Romance
This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the backdrop—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its main point—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.
High-powered businesswoman Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a French chateau to negotiate a purchase for a champagne business. En route, she encounters a man in a bookshop who promises to show her a festive Paris.
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 holiday love story with a dash of elegance and gives the obligatory heartwarming sensation.
The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is particularly strong too.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄
Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas
Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, regardless of the attempts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the reality.
The truth is to be discovered, and Chris sets out to find it with the expert help of a team of well-known scientists and personalities.
It’s low-key but charming, and good viewing while expecting Santa to visit.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄
A Star-Studded Family Drama
Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a dysfunctional American family who come back together for the holidays—including other Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.
Pfeiffer starts by mentioning 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 combination of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually finds her strength.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret
The day’s taken a dip, but fortunately here’s a new addition in the saturated market of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and utterly watchable—seasonal comfort food.
It’s a narrative as familiar as can be: An American woman journeys to a distant snowy land and ends up finding romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher