Devouring 2025's Christmas Films: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

It is the season to relax on the couch and consume a box of festive treats in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

This year, a batch of new holiday movies strives to join part of our festive viewing—potentially even joining the ranks alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

So, in a helpful attempt to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to get into the holiday mood, I binged as many fresh holiday releases as possible in a single day.

First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick

Starting, optimistically, on a good foot. This release is the exclusive 2025 movie on a well-known aggregator's list of the best 100 festive features of all time.

The popular band end up stuck in the UK after finishing their global concert series and must get home for Christmas. Their attempts are hindered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who sings to state they won’t get home until they “rediscover their familial spark.”

The repartee between the bickering brothers is enjoyable even for the non-fan, while devotees will undoubtedly notice lots of easter eggs as they attempt to get back using any means of transport necessary.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

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

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

8.45am - Tinsel Town

A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland appears as a movie actor tricked into a "panto".

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

His pantomime co-stars inform him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he retorts. You can guess their response. Unless you’re ignorant of traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some very funny lines, some heartwarming sub-plots, and the supporting actors is excellent, too.

It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit tacky at a different time, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

A familiar face pops up at the outset of this film, too, insulting someone for the second consecutive movie. Might this become a new Christmas tradition?

This time, he’s a singing black cab driver 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 filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative develops as the stingy Mr Sood is haunted 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 sadly he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s portrayal is wooden—a significant issue when he’s so the main character.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

There's just enough time for a network's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”

But after he receives an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) talks him into splurging the cash on a vacation to Lapland.

There’s just one issue—he discovers there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to determine how to return the remainder.

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

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

Driven corporate star Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a country estate to negotiate a purchase for a champagne business. En route, she meets a guy in a literary haven who offers to show her a festive Paris.

An expert recently claimed this is the top new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a festive dalliance with a dash of elegance and gives the necessary cozy feelings.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas

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

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

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a bickering American family who come back together for the holidays—including other acclaimed actress 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 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 finally takes center stage.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new offering in the packed genre of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and highly entertaining—festive fodder.

It’s a tale as well-worn: An American woman goes on a quest to a far-off wintery locale and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher