Devouring The Latest Festive Features: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.
It is the season to lounge on the couch and demolish a box of mince pies in front of a terrific flick, a poor film, or one that’s so bad it’s good.
Once again, a batch of fresh Christmas films aims to become part of our holiday traditions—maybe even earning a place alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).
Therefore, in a vital public service to separate the winners from the losers, and to embrace the festive feeling, I watched as many fresh holiday releases as possible in a single day.
Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
Starting, optimistically, on a high. This film is the exclusive 2025 entry on a well-known aggregator's list of the top 100 Christmas movies of all time.
The musical trio find themselves stranded in the UK after wrapping up their world tour and must get home for Christmas. Their endeavors are hampered by an villainous Saint Nick, who breaks into song to declare they won’t get home until they “rediscover their brotherly magic.”
The back-and-forth between the bickering brothers is entertaining even for the casual viewer, while fans will certainly pick up on lots of references as they endeavor to get back using any means of transport necessary.
It’s a journey of epic proportions.
It’s not a timeless masterpiece, but is superb for fans and a solid start to the day.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who must sit through it.
Next: A Star in Panto
A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland stars as a Hollywood star tricked into a "panto".
“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and aging action hero Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose agent has misled him into thinking he’s starring in prestigious English theatre.
His pantomime co-stars inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he insists angrily. You can guess their retort. That is, unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional stage call-and-response.
There are some very funny lines, some touching side stories, and the supporting actors is brilliant, too.
It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit naff at a different time, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma
Danny Dyer pops up at the outset of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the next movie straight. Might this become a new Christmas tradition?
This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who collects 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 the filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story progresses as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is haunted by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.
This cultural adaptation is at least different from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s performance is flat—a significant issue when he’s so the focal point.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
Lunchtime: Stuffed
Before lunch 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 receives an large festive windfall at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) convinces him spending the sum on a family trip to Lapland.
There’s just one snag—he learns there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to pay back the excess.
Fun while it lasts but not lasting.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
A Classy Netflix Romance
This is one of those Christmas films where the decorations and snow are in the setting—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its main point—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same.
Ambitious executive Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a vineyard to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. During her travels, she runs into a fellow in a literary haven who promises to show her the holidays in the City of Light.
An expert recently stated this is the finest new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a Christmas romance with a hint of sophistication and gives the necessary heartwarming sensation.
The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is very good too.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄
Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas
Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, regardless of the attempts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him otherwise.
The answer is to be discovered, and Chris sets out to find it with the assistance of a team of well-known scientists and personalities.
It’s low-key but charming, and good viewing while anticipating Santa to visit.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄
Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.
Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a quarrelling American family who gather for the holidays—including other acclaimed actress 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 saying: “They need to make a movie about the true heroes of the holidays—moms.”
So that’s what this is, but in execution it’s really a mash-up of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally finds her strength.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret
The day’s gone downhill, but thankfully here’s a new addition in the crowded field of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and strangely compelling—seasonal comfort food.
It’s a narrative as familiar as can be: An American woman goes on a quest to a picturesque cold country and ends up stumbling across romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher