Devouring The Latest Christmas Films: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

‘Tis the season to slob out on the sofa and consume a packet of mince pies in front of a good movie, a awful feature, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

Once again, a selection of latest seasonal stories hopes to be part of our holiday traditions—potentially even finding a spot alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).

Thus, in a noble effort to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to find the holiday mood, I binged as many recent holiday releases as possible in a single day.

First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick

Beginning, optimistically, on a high. This film is the sole 2025 movie on a well-known aggregator's list of the top 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The Jonas Brothers find themselves stuck in the UK after finishing their world tour and must get home for Christmas. Their efforts are hampered by an evil Santa, who breaks into song to announce they won’t get home until they “rediscover their sibling bond.”

The back-and-forth between the bickering brothers is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while fans will no doubt 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 legendary, but is excellent for devotees and a good start to the day.

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

8.45am - Tinsel Town

Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a celebrity cast a "panto".

“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and older action hero Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose agent 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 retorts. One can imagine their reply. Unless you’re not acquainted with traditional British theatre traditions.

There are some very funny lines, some heartwarming side stories, and the ensemble is brilliant, too.

It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit tacky at another season, but is a great entertainment at Christmas.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma

An actor appears at the beginning of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second consecutive movie. Could this be a new Christmas tradition?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who picks up Mr Sood, the latest spin 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 unfolds as the stingy Mr Sood is visited 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 captivating and Nayyar’s portrayal is flat—a problem when he’s so the main character.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

Before lunch for a major broadcaster's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “isn't big on Christmas.”

But after he is awarded an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) persuades him spending the sum on a family trip to Lapland.

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

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

This is one of those holiday movies where the decorations and snow are in the setting—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.

Ambitious executive Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a French chateau to do a deal for a champagne business. During her travels, she runs into a man in a bookshop who promises to show her a festive Paris.

A critic recently declared this is the finest new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a festive dalliance with a dash of elegance and gives the necessary cozy feelings.

The scene with a extended debate about Die Hard is notable too.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas

Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, regardless of the persuasion of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him otherwise.

The truth is out there, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the expert help of a panel of well-known scientists and personalities.

It’s low-key but endearing, and perfect viewing while expecting Santa to visit.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a quarrelling American family who gather for the holidays—including other Oscar nominee 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 unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s what this is, but in reality it’s really a combination of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last takes center stage.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s gone downhill, but fortunately here’s a new entry in the crowded field of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and utterly watchable—festive fodder.

It’s a story as familiar as can be: An American woman journeys to a distant snowy land and ends up stumbling across romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher