Binge-Watching The Latest Holiday Movies: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.
It is the time of year to lounge on the couch 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.
Once again, a selection of new seasonal stories strives to join part of our holiday traditions—potentially even earning a place alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).
So, in a vital public service to separate the winners from the losers, and to get into the holiday mood, I watched as many recent festive movies as possible in a single day.
7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
Starting, optimistically, on a high. This is the only 2025 title on a popular review site's list of the best 100 holiday films of all time.
The Jonas Brothers find themselves trapped in the UK after wrapping up their world tour and must get home for Christmas. Their efforts are thwarted by an malevolent Father Christmas, who bursts into melody to state they won’t get home until they “rediscover their brotherly magic.”
The back-and-forth between the arguing trio is enjoyable even for the uninitiated, while fans will certainly pick up on lots of in-jokes as they attempt 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 positive start to the day.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their relatives who are obliged to sit through it.
Next: A Star in Panto
A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland stars as a Hollywood star cast a pantomime.
“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and older star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose manager has misled him into thinking he’s starring in high-class London stage.
His pantomime fellow actors let him know he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he protests. You can guess their response. That is, unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional stage call-and-response.
There are some hilarious moments, some cockle-warming side stories, and the ensemble is cracking, too.
It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit tacky at any other time of year, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
10.19am - Christmas Karma
A familiar face appears at the beginning of this film, too, insulting someone for the next movie straight. Is this a new Christmas tradition?
This time, he’s a singing black cab driver who encounters 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 tight-fisted Mr Sood is visited by the apparitions of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.
This Indian Scrooge is at least unique from all the others, but sadly he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s portrayal is flat—a major flaw when he’s so the main character.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
Noon: A BBC Special
There's just enough time for a major broadcaster's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”
But after he is awarded 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 problem—he discovers 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.
Pleasant yet unmemorable.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
A Classy Netflix Romance
This is one of those Christmas films where the decorations and snow are in the setting—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its main point—but it feels cosy and festive all the same.
High-powered businesswoman Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is sent to a vineyard to negotiate a purchase for a champagne business. On the way, she encounters a man in a literary haven who vows to show her a festive Paris.
A critic recently claimed this is the finest new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a Christmas romance with a hint of sophistication and gives the obligatory cozy feelings.
The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is very good too.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄
A Charming Quest
Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, in spite of the persuasion of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the reality.
The secret is somewhere, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the expert help of a panel of well-known experts and celebrities.
It’s gentle but charming, and perfect 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 fellow 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 stating: “They need to make a movie about the real champions of the holidays—moms.”
So that’s the concept, but in reality it’s really a mash-up of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last comes into her own.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄
Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret
The day’s gone downhill, but happily here’s a new offering in the packed genre of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and highly entertaining—holiday fare.
It’s a narrative as old as time: An American woman journeys to a picturesque cold country and ends up finding romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
