Devouring This Year's Holiday Movies: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

It is the time of year to relax on the sofa and demolish a box of mince pies in front of a good movie, a bad movie, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

As always, a selection of new Christmas films aims to become part of our holiday traditions—perhaps even earning a place alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

Thus, in a vital public service to separate the winners from the losers, and to get into the festive feeling, I marathoned as many fresh holiday releases as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Starting, hopefully, on a positive note. This release is the only 2025 movie on a well-known aggregator's list of the top 100 festive features of all time.

The Jonas Brothers are trapped in the UK after concluding their international trek and must return for Christmas. Their efforts are hindered by an evil Santa, who bursts into melody to state they won’t get home until they “find their brotherly magic.”

The back-and-forth between the squabbling siblings is enjoyable even for the non-fan, while devotees will certainly pick up on lots of easter eggs as they try to get back using every mode of travel possible.

It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.

It’s not an all-time classic, but is great for fans and a positive start to the day.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their relatives who will have to sit through it.

Late Morning: Tinsel Town

Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a celebrity roped into a pantomime.

“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and aging star Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose manager has tricked him into thinking he’s appearing in high-class London stage.

His Aladdin fellow actors let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he insists angrily. You can guess their retort. Unless you’re not acquainted with traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some very funny lines, some heartwarming storylines, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too.

It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit cheesy at any other time of year, but is a great entertainment at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma

A familiar face shows up at the outset of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the next movie straight. Is this a budding festive ritual?

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who picks up 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 classic narrative develops as the stingy Mr Sood is confronted by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This cultural adaptation is at least distinct from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s performance is flat—a major flaw when he’s so the focal point.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

Before lunch for a channel's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”

But after he receives an large festive windfall at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) talks him into blowing the money on a family trip to Lapland.

There’s just one problem—he learns there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to reimburse the remainder.

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 backdrop—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 country estate to do a deal for a sparkling wine company. During her travels, she meets a guy in a book store who promises 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 overstatement, but it is a holiday love story with a dash of elegance and gives the required heartwarming sensation.

The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is very good too.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas

Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, in spite of the attempts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him otherwise.

The answer is to be discovered, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the guidance of a team of well-known figures.

It’s gentle but sweet, and good viewing while anticipating 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 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 real champions of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the premise, but in practice it’s really a combination of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally finds her strength.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s gone downhill, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the crowded field of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and utterly watchable—festive fodder.

It’s a tale as well-worn: An American woman travels to a distant snowy land and ends up stumbling across romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher