Marathon Viewing The Latest Christmas Films: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights.

‘Tis the season to relax on the sofa and devour a box of mince pies in front of a good movie, a poor film, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

This year, a crop of new seasonal stories hopes to be part of our holiday traditions—perhaps even finding a spot alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

So, in a noble effort to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to embrace the festive feeling, I watched as many new festive movies as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Kicking off, hopefully, on a good foot. This is the sole 2025 title on a popular review site's list of the best 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The musical trio find themselves trapped in the UK after wrapping up their global concert series and must get home for Christmas. Their efforts are hampered by an villainous Saint Nick, who sings to announce they won’t get home until they “rekindle their familial spark.”

The banter between the squabbling siblings is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while devotees will undoubtedly notice 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 a timeless masterpiece, but is excellent for fans and a solid start to the day.

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

Next: A Star in Panto

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland appears as a Hollywood star tricked into a "panto".

“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and ageing star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose manager has misled him into thinking he’s starring in prestigious English theatre.

His Aladdin fellow actors let him know he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he protests. You can guess their response. Unless you’re ignorant of traditional panto catchphrases.

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

It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit naff at another season, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

An actor shows up at the start of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the second consecutive movie. Might this become a fresh holiday staple?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who encounters 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 filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story progresses as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This Indian Scrooge is at least different from all the others, but sadly he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s performance is lifeless—a major flaw when he’s so the focal point.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

There’s time for a network's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man 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 issue—he finds out there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to pay back the difference.

Fun while it lasts but not lasting.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the backdrop—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.

High-powered businesswoman Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is sent to a country estate to do a deal for a champagne business. On the way, she encounters a fellow in a literary haven who offers to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

An expert recently claimed this is the finest new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a festive dalliance with a dash of elegance and gives the necessary warm and fuzzy feels.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas

Young Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, despite the persuasion of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the reality.

The truth is somewhere, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the expert help of a group of well-known scientists and personalities.

It’s low-key but charming, and good 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 reunite for the holidays—including other acclaimed actress Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer opens by name-dropping 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 eventually comes into her own.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s gone downhill, but thankfully here’s a new addition in the saturated market of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and highly entertaining—seasonal comfort food.

It’s a tale as well-worn: An American woman goes on a quest to a distant snowy land and ends up finding romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher