Devouring This Year's Festive Features: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.
‘Tis the time of year to lounge on the sofa and devour a packet of festive treats in front of a great film, a awful feature, or one that’s so bad it’s good.
As always, a crop of new Christmas films hopes to be part of our holiday traditions—potentially even joining the ranks alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).
Therefore, in a noble effort to separate the winners from the losers, and to embrace the festive feeling, I binged as many recent Christmas films as possible in a single day.
Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
Kicking off, hopefully, on a positive note. This is the only 2025 entry on a famous website's list of the top 100 Christmas movies of all time.
The Jonas Brothers find themselves trapped in the UK after finishing their world tour and must get home for Christmas. Their attempts are hampered by an evil Santa, who sings to announce they won’t get home until they “rekindle their brotherly magic.”
The repartee between the bickering brothers is enjoyable even for the uninitiated, while devotees will undoubtedly catch lots of in-jokes as they endeavor to get back using any means of transport necessary.
It’s a journey of epic proportions.
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 are obliged to sit through it.
Late Morning: Tinsel Town
Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a celebrity cast a pantomime.
“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and ageing star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose representative has deceived him into thinking he’s starring in renowned British drama.
His Aladdin co-stars let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he retorts. It's easy to predict their response. Unless you’re not acquainted with traditional panto catchphrases.
There are some great jokes, some heartwarming sub-plots, and the ensemble is excellent, too.
It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit cheesy at another season, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
10.19am - Christmas Karma
An actor appears at the outset of this film, too, insulting someone for the next movie straight. Is this a fresh holiday staple?
This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who collects 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale unfolds as the stingy Mr Sood is confronted by the ghosts of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.
This South Asian reinterpretation is at least unique from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s performance is wooden—a significant issue when he’s so central to everything.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
12.04pm - Stuffed
There's just enough time for a major broadcaster's Christmas comedy-drama—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) convinces him spending the sum on a holiday 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 determine how to pay back the difference.
Fun while it lasts but not lasting.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
1.12pm - Champagne Problems
This is one of those Christmas films where the festive trappings are in the backdrop—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels cosy and festive all the same.
High-powered businesswoman Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a country estate to do a deal for a sparkling wine company. En route, she encounters a guy in a literary haven who vows to show her a festive Paris.
A commentator recently claimed 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 hint of sophistication and gives the required cozy feelings.
The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is particularly strong too.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄
A Charming Quest
Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, regardless of the efforts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him otherwise.
The secret is to be discovered, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the assistance of a panel of well-known scientists and personalities.
It’s low-key but endearing, and perfect viewing while expecting Santa to visit.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄
4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.
Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a bickering American family who reunite for the holidays—including fellow Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.
Pfeiffer opens by name-dropping 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 reality it’s really a jumble of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally takes center stage.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret
The day’s taken a dip, but happily here’s a new offering in the packed genre of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and utterly watchable—seasonal comfort food.
It’s a story as well-worn: An American woman journeys to a far-off wintery locale and ends up discovering romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher