Devouring The Latest Christmas Films: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

It is the season to relax on the couch and demolish a packet of festive treats in front of a great film, a awful feature, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

Once again, a selection of latest 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 (no arguments).

Therefore, in a noble effort to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to find the Christmas spirit, I marathoned as many new holiday releases as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Starting, ideally, on a positive note. This release is the sole 2025 title on a well-known aggregator's list of the best 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The Jonas Brothers end up stranded in the UK after concluding their world tour and must get home for Christmas. Their attempts are hindered by an villainous Saint Nick, who breaks into song to state they won’t get home until they “rediscover their brotherly magic.”

The back-and-forth between the bickering brothers is enjoyable even for the uninitiated, while devotees will undoubtedly notice lots of references as they try to get back using all transportation available.

It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their relatives who will have to sit through it.

Late Morning: Tinsel Town

A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a celebrity roped into a pantomime.

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and older lead Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose manager has deceived him into thinking he’s starring in high-class London stage.

His pantomime fellow actors tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. It's easy to predict their reply. Except if you’re unfamiliar with traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some very funny lines, some touching side stories, and the rest of the cast is cracking, too.

It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit cheesy at another season, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma

Danny Dyer appears at the beginning of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second consecutive movie. Is this a fresh holiday staple?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who picks up 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 the filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story progresses as the miserly Mr Sood is confronted by the spirits of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This Indian Scrooge is at least unique from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s performance is lifeless—a significant issue when he’s so the main character.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

Before lunch for a major broadcaster's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “avoids Christmas.”

But after he receives an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) talks him into splurging the cash on a family trip to Lapland.

There’s just one snag—he discovers there was an mix-up 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: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

This is one of those Christmas films where the decorations and snow are in the setting—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its main point—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.

High-powered businesswoman Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a vineyard to do a deal for a champagne business. En route, she runs into a fellow in a book store who promises to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

An expert recently stated this is the top new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a holiday love story with a dash of elegance and gives the required cozy feelings.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

3.29pm - 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 otherwise.

The answer is somewhere, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the assistance of a team of well-known experts and celebrities.

It’s low-key but charming, and perfect viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a quarrelling American family who reunite 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 stating: “They need to make a movie about the real champions of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the concept, but in practice it’s really a mash-up of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last finds her strength.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s waned in quality, but happily here’s a new offering in the crowded field of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and utterly watchable—festive fodder.

It’s a narrative as old as time: An American woman goes on a quest to a far-off wintery locale and ends up finding romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher