Devouring This Year's Holiday Movies: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

It is the time of year to relax on the couch and devour a box of festive treats in front of a terrific flick, a bad movie, or one that’s awesomely awful.

As always, a selection of latest seasonal stories aims to become part of our holiday traditions—perhaps even finding a spot alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).

Thus, in a helpful attempt to separate the winners from the losers, and to embrace the festive feeling, I watched as many fresh festive movies as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Beginning, ideally, on a high. This is the exclusive 2025 movie on a well-known aggregator's list of the top 100 festive features of all time.

The Jonas Brothers find themselves stranded in the UK after concluding their international trek and must get home for Christmas. Their attempts are hindered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who bursts into melody to state they won’t get home until they “rekindle their brotherly magic.”

The repartee between the bickering brothers is entertaining even for the non-fan, while followers will undoubtedly notice lots of in-jokes as they try 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 devotees and a solid start to the day.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their relatives who must sit through it.

Next: A Star in Panto

Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a celebrity cast a pantomime.

“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and aging action hero Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose manager has tricked him into thinking he’s starring in renowned British drama.

His pantomime co-stars let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he protests. You can guess their retort. Unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some great jokes, some touching sub-plots, and the supporting actors is brilliant, too.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

A New Spin on Scrooge

An actor appears at the outset of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the next movie straight. Is this 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 an actor from Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by the director of Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative unfolds as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is visited by the spirits of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This Indian Scrooge is at least distinct from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s acting is lifeless—a major flaw when he’s so central to everything.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

There’s time for a network's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “avoids Christmas.”

But after he is awarded an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) talks him into spending the sum on a holiday to Lapland.

There’s just one problem—he finds out there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to pay back the remainder.

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

This is one of those holiday movies where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the setting—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its main point—but it feels cosy and festive all the same.

Driven corporate star Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is assigned to a French chateau to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she meets a fellow in a bookshop who offers to show her Christmas in Paris.

A critic recently claimed this is the top new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a Christmas romance with a dash of elegance and gives the required warm and fuzzy feels.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas

Young Chris, played by Lenny Rush, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, regardless of the attempts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him otherwise.

The truth is to be discovered, and Chris sets out to find it with the expert help of a team of well-known figures.

It’s gentle but sweet, and perfect viewing while expecting Santa to visit.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a bickering American family who come back together for the holidays—including fellow Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer starts by mentioning holiday staples 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 what this is, but in reality it’s really a combination of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally takes center stage.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new addition in the saturated market of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and utterly watchable—festive fodder.

It’s a narrative as well-worn: An American woman journeys to a distant snowy land and ends up stumbling across romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher