Devouring This Year's Christmas Films: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

‘Tis the season to slob out on the couch and demolish a box of festive treats in front of a great film, a awful feature, or one that’s awesomely awful.

As always, a crop of fresh Christmas films strives to join part of our seasonal watchlist—perhaps even joining the ranks alongside beloved favorites 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 binged as many fresh Christmas films as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Beginning, ideally, on a high. This is the exclusive 2025 entry on a popular review site's list of the greatest 100 festive features of all time.

The popular band find themselves trapped in the UK after wrapping up their world tour and must get home for Christmas. Their attempts are thwarted by an malevolent Father Christmas, who bursts into melody to state they won’t get home until they “rekindle their sibling bond.”

The banter between the bickering brothers is amusing even for the non-fan, while fans will undoubtedly notice lots of in-jokes as they attempt to get back using any means of transport necessary.

It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.

It’s not a timeless masterpiece, but is great for devotees and a solid start to the day.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who must sit through it.

Next: A Star in Panto

Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a Hollywood star tricked into a traditional British stage show.

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and aging lead Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose representative has misled him into thinking he’s starring in prestigious English theatre.

His pantomime fellow actors let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he insists angrily. One can imagine their response. Unless you’re not acquainted with traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some hilarious moments, some cockle-warming side stories, and the rest of the cast is cracking, too.

It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit tacky at any other time of year, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

An actor shows up at the outset of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second consecutive movie. Might this become a budding festive ritual?

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 a star of Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by the filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story progresses as the miserly Mr Sood is visited by the apparitions of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This Indian Scrooge is at least different from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s portrayal is lifeless—a problem when he’s so central to everything.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

There’s time for a network's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “avoids Christmas.”

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

There’s just one snag—he learns there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to pay back the difference.

Fun while it lasts but not lasting.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the background—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels cosy and festive all the same.

Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a country estate to secure an acquisition for a champagne business. On the way, she runs into a man in a literary haven who vows to show her Christmas in Paris.

A commentator recently claimed this is the top new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a Christmas romance with a hint of sophistication and gives the necessary warm and fuzzy feels.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, regardless of the attempts 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 guidance of a group of well-known scientists and personalities.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a dysfunctional American family who gather for the holidays—including fellow acclaimed actress Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer starts by mentioning holiday staples 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 what this is, but in execution it’s really a jumble of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally takes center stage.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s taken a dip, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the crowded field of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and utterly watchable—seasonal comfort food.

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

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher