Devouring The Latest Festive Features: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

‘Tis the time of year to relax on the sofa and consume a tin of festive treats in front of a good movie, a awful feature, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

As always, a batch of new Christmas films aims to become part of our holiday traditions—maybe even joining the ranks alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).

Thus, in a helpful attempt to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to get into the Christmas spirit, I marathoned as many fresh Christmas films as possible in a single day.

First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick

Kicking off, optimistically, on a good foot. This is the only 2025 title on a well-known aggregator's list of the greatest 100 holiday films of all time.

The Jonas Brothers are stranded in the UK after concluding their world tour and must make it back for Christmas. Their endeavors are thwarted by an villainous Saint Nick, who bursts into melody to state they won’t get home until they “rediscover their brotherly magic.”

The banter between the squabbling siblings is entertaining even for the non-fan, while devotees will certainly catch lots of easter eggs as they try to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

It’s not an all-time classic, but is excellent for devotees and a solid start to the day.

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

8.45am - Tinsel Town

Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland appears as a celebrity tricked into a traditional British stage show.

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

His Aladdin cast-mates tell him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he retorts. You can guess their response. Unless you’re not acquainted with traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some great jokes, some heartwarming side stories, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too.

It’s the type of film that would be a bit cheesy at another season, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma

A familiar face pops up at the start of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the second film in a row. Could this be a fresh holiday staple?

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who collects Mr Sood, the modern take 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 director of Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale unfolds as the stingy Mr Sood is visited 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 regrettably he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s performance is flat—a problem when he’s so the focal point.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

There's just enough time for a major broadcaster's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”

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

There’s just one problem—he learns there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to determine how to pay back the excess.

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems

This is one of those holiday movies where the decorations and snow are in the background—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its main point—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same.

High-powered businesswoman Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a vineyard to do a deal for a champagne business. During her travels, she runs into a man in a bookshop who vows to show her a festive Paris.

An expert recently stated this is the top new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a festive dalliance with a hint of sophistication and gives the obligatory heartwarming sensation.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, in spite of the persuasion of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him otherwise.

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

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a quarrelling American family who come back together for the holidays—including fellow acclaimed actress Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer begins by referencing Christmas classics like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before declaring: “They need to make a movie about the true heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the premise, but in practice it’s really a mash-up of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually comes into her own.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

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

It’s a tale as familiar as can be: An American woman journeys to a picturesque cold country and ends up finding romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher