Devouring The Latest Holiday Movies: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.
‘Tis the time of year to slob out on the couch and devour a tin of mince pies in front of a great film, a bad movie, or one that’s so bad it’s good.
As always, a crop of fresh Christmas films strives to join part of our seasonal watchlist—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 Christmas spirit, I binged as many new Christmas films as possible in a single day.
First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick
Beginning, optimistically, on a good foot. This release is the only 2025 movie on a popular review site's list of the top 100 festive features of all time.
The Jonas Brothers end up stranded in the UK after wrapping up their international trek and must return for Christmas. Their endeavors are hampered by an villainous Saint Nick, who breaks into song to state they won’t get home until they “rediscover their sibling bond.”
The repartee between the arguing trio is enjoyable even for the casual viewer, while devotees will undoubtedly notice lots of in-jokes as they endeavor to get back using all transportation available.
It’s a journey of epic proportions.
It’s not an all-time classic, but is superb for devotees and a positive start to the day.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who will have to sit through it.
Late Morning: Tinsel Town
A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a movie actor tricked into a traditional British stage show.
“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and aging lead Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose manager has deceived him into thinking he’s performing in high-class London stage.
His pantomime cast-mates let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he protests. You can guess their retort. That is, unless you’re not acquainted with traditional panto catchphrases.
There are some hilarious moments, some touching sub-plots, and the ensemble is brilliant, too.
It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit tacky at another season, but is a great entertainment at Christmas.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
10.19am - Christmas Karma
A familiar face appears at the beginning of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the second consecutive movie. Is this a new Christmas tradition?
This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who picks up Mr Sood, the latest spin 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 familiar story unfolds as the miserly Mr Sood is haunted by the spirits of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, 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 charismatic and Nayyar’s portrayal is flat—a problem when he’s so the focal point.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
12.04pm - Stuffed
Before lunch for a network's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”
But after he is awarded an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) talks him into blowing the money on a family trip to Lapland.
There’s just one snag—he learns there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to reimburse the difference.
Pleasant yet unmemorable.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
1.12pm - Champagne Problems
This is one of those Christmas films where the decorations and snow are in the backdrop—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels cosy and festive all the same.
Ambitious executive Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a French chateau to do a deal for a sparkling wine company. En route, she encounters a man in a bookshop who promises to show her the holidays in the City of Light.
A commentator recently declared this is the best new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a holiday love story with a hint of sophistication and gives the necessary warm and fuzzy feels.
The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is notable too.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄
3.29pm - 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 truth is out there, and Chris sets out to find it with the assistance of a team of well-known experts and celebrities.
It’s gentle but sweet, and good viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄
4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.
Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a dysfunctional 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 classic festive films 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 what this is, but in reality it’s really a mash-up of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually finds her strength.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret
The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the packed genre of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and highly entertaining—holiday fare.
It’s a tale as familiar as can be: An American woman journeys to a distant snowy land and ends up finding romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
