Binge-Watching The Latest Holiday Movies: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

‘Tis the season to relax on the sofa and devour a box of festive treats in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

As always, a crop of fresh holiday movies hopes to be part of our holiday traditions—maybe even finding a spot alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

So, in a helpful attempt to separate the winners from the losers, and to get into the festive feeling, I watched as many new Christmas films as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Beginning, ideally, on a high. This film is the sole 2025 title on a popular review site's list of the best 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The popular band find themselves stuck in the UK after concluding their international trek and must return for Christmas. Their endeavors are hindered by an villainous Saint Nick, who breaks into song to declare they won’t get home until they “find their sibling bond.”

The back-and-forth between the bickering brothers is enjoyable even for the non-fan, while followers will no doubt catch lots of easter eggs 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 excellent for devotees and a solid start to the day.

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

8.45am - Tinsel Town

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

“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and ageing lead Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose manager has misled him into thinking he’s appearing in prestigious English theatre.

His pantomime cast-mates tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. One can imagine their reply. Unless you’re ignorant of traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some hilarious moments, some cockle-warming storylines, 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 great entertainment at Christmas.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

Danny Dyer shows up at the start of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the next movie straight. Might this become a budding festive ritual?

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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative develops as the stingy Mr Sood is haunted by the apparitions of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This South Asian reinterpretation is at least different from all the others, but sadly he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s performance is flat—a problem when he’s so central to everything.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

Before lunch for a network's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”

But after he gets an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) convinces him spending the sum on a vacation to Lapland.

There’s just one snag—he discovers there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to reimburse the excess.

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the backdrop—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its main point—but it feels cosy and festive all the same.

Ambitious executive Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a country estate to do a deal for a sparkling wine company. During her travels, she runs into a fellow in a bookshop who promises 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 hint of sophistication and gives the required heartwarming sensation.

The scene with a extended debate about Die Hard is very good too.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas

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

The secret is to be discovered, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the guidance of a panel of well-known experts and celebrities.

It’s gentle but sweet, and good viewing while anticipating Santa to visit.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a dysfunctional American family who gather for the holidays—including other Oscar nominee 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 unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s what this is, but in execution it’s really a jumble of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally comes into her own.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s waned in quality, but fortunately here’s a new entry in the crowded field of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and highly entertaining—festive fodder.

It’s a narrative as well-worn: An American woman goes on a quest to a picturesque cold country and ends up finding romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher