Marathon Viewing This Year's Festive Features: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

‘Tis the season to slob out on the couch and demolish a box of mince pies in front of a terrific flick, a poor film, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

Once again, a batch of new holiday movies strives to join part of our seasonal watchlist—maybe even joining the ranks alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

So, in a helpful attempt to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to get into the Christmas spirit, I binged as many recent holiday releases as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Beginning, ideally, on a high. This is the sole 2025 entry on a well-known aggregator's list of the top 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The popular band end up trapped in the UK after wrapping up their global concert series and must return for Christmas. Their endeavors are thwarted by an malevolent Father Christmas, who breaks into song to state they won’t get home until they “rekindle their brotherly magic.”

The back-and-forth between the squabbling siblings is entertaining even for the casual viewer, while followers will undoubtedly notice lots of easter eggs as they try to get back using all transportation available.

It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.

It’s not legendary, but is excellent for fans and a positive start to the day.

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

Late Morning: Tinsel Town

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland appears as a Hollywood star tricked into a traditional British stage show.

“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and aging lead Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose representative has misled him into thinking he’s starring in prestigious English theatre.

His Aladdin cast-mates let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he insists angrily. You can guess their response. Unless you’re ignorant of traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some very funny lines, some touching sub-plots, and the ensemble is cracking, too.

It’s the type of film that would be a bit cheesy at any other time of year, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

A New Spin on Scrooge

Danny Dyer appears at the outset of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second consecutive movie. Is this a budding festive ritual?

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who picks up Mr Sood, the newest interpretation on Mr Scrooge from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Mr Sood is played by an actor from Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by the director of Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale unfolds as the miserly Mr Sood is confronted by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, 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 captivating and Nayyar’s portrayal is wooden—a significant issue when he’s so central to everything.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

Before lunch for a channel's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “isn't big on Christmas.”

But after he is awarded an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) talks him into blowing the money on a vacation to Lapland.

There’s just one snag—he finds out 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.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems

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

Driven corporate star Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is assigned to a country estate to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. During her travels, she runs into a fellow in a book store who vows 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 touch of class and gives the obligatory heartwarming sensation.

The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is particularly strong too.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas

Young Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, despite the efforts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the truth.

The answer is to be discovered, and Chris sets out to find it with the assistance of a group of well-known figures.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the head 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 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 real champions of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the concept, but in reality it’s really a jumble of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last finds her strength.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the packed genre of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and strangely compelling—seasonal comfort food.

It’s a tale 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