Marathon Viewing The Latest Holiday Movies: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

‘Tis the season to slob out on the couch and devour a packet of holiday pastries in front of a terrific flick, a awful feature, or one that’s awesomely awful.

Once again, a batch of latest holiday movies hopes to be part of our festive viewing—maybe even earning a place alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).

Therefore, in a helpful attempt to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to find the Christmas spirit, I watched as many fresh festive movies as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Kicking off, ideally, on a good foot. This film is the exclusive 2025 title on a well-known aggregator's list of the top 100 festive features of all time.

The Jonas Brothers are stuck in the UK after wrapping up their international trek and must make it back for Christmas. Their endeavors are hindered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who sings to announce they won’t get home until they “rediscover their sibling bond.”

The repartee between the bickering brothers is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while devotees will certainly notice lots of references as they attempt to get back using every mode of travel possible.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

It’s not an all-time classic, but is great for fans and a positive start to the day.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who must sit through it.

8.45am - Tinsel Town

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland stars as a Hollywood star roped into a "panto".

“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and aging lead Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose agent has tricked him into thinking he’s performing in prestigious English theatre.

His Aladdin cast-mates inform him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he insists angrily. It's easy to predict their reply. That is, unless you’re ignorant of traditional British theatre traditions.

There are some hilarious moments, some touching storylines, and the supporting actors is brilliant, too.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma

Danny Dyer shows up at the start of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second film in a row. Might this become a fresh holiday staple?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who collects Mr Sood, the modern take 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 director of Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story develops as the miserly Mr Sood is haunted by the spirits of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This cultural adaptation is at least unique from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s acting is wooden—a problem when he’s so the focal point.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

Before lunch for a major broadcaster's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”

But after he is awarded an large festive windfall at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) persuades him splurging the cash on a vacation to Lapland.

There’s just one problem—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 return the excess.

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems

This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the background—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.

High-powered businesswoman Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a French chateau to do a deal for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she runs into a man in a book store who vows to show her Christmas in Paris.

A critic recently stated this is the finest new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a holiday love story with a hint of sophistication and gives the required warm and fuzzy feels.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, in spite of the persuasion of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the reality.

The truth is somewhere, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the guidance of a group of well-known figures.

It’s gentle but endearing, and good viewing while expecting Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a quarrelling American family who reunite for the holidays—including other Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer opens by name-dropping Christmas classics 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 the concept, but in practice it’s really a jumble of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually comes into her own.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s gone downhill, but happily here’s a new entry in the crowded field of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and utterly watchable—seasonal comfort food.

It’s a tale as old as time: An American woman travels to a distant snowy land and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher