Binge-Watching The Latest Holiday Movies: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights.
It is the season to relax on the couch and consume a box of festive treats in front of a terrific flick, a poor film, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.
As always, a crop of fresh holiday movies aims to become part of our festive viewing—maybe even joining the ranks alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).
So, in a vital public service to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to get into the festive feeling, I watched as many new Christmas films as possible in a single day.
First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick
Kicking off, optimistically, on a good foot. This is the exclusive 2025 entry on a well-known aggregator's list of the top 100 festive features of all time.
The Jonas Brothers end up trapped in the UK after wrapping up their global concert series and must get home for Christmas. Their efforts are hindered by an villainous Saint Nick, who bursts into melody to state they won’t get home until they “find their familial spark.”
The repartee between the bickering brothers is amusing even for the uninitiated, while devotees will undoubtedly pick up on lots of references as they attempt to get back using any means of transport necessary.
It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.
It’s not an all-time classic, but is excellent for fans and a solid start to the day.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who must sit through it.
8.45am - Tinsel Town
Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland stars as a movie actor cast a "panto".
“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and older lead Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose manager has tricked him into thinking he’s appearing in prestigious English theatre.
His Aladdin cast-mates let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he retorts. You can guess their retort. Unless you’re ignorant of traditional panto catchphrases.
There are some great jokes, some touching sub-plots, and the rest of the cast is cracking, too.
It’s the type of film that would be a bit naff at any other time of year, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma
Danny Dyer shows up at the outset of this film, too, insulting someone for the second consecutive movie. Could this be a budding festive ritual?
This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative unfolds as the miserly Mr Sood is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.
This cultural adaptation is at least different from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s performance is wooden—a major flaw when he’s so the focal point.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
12.04pm - Stuffed
Before lunch for a major broadcaster's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “isn't big on Christmas.”
But after he receives an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) persuades him blowing the money on a vacation 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 reimburse the remainder.
Fun while it lasts but not lasting.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
1.12pm - Champagne Problems
This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the background—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same.
Driven corporate star Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is assigned to a French chateau to secure an acquisition for a champagne business. On the way, she runs into a guy in a bookshop who promises to show her Christmas in Paris.
A commentator 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 necessary warm and fuzzy feels.
The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is particularly strong too.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄
Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas
Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, regardless of the persuasion of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the truth.
The truth is to be discovered, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the expert help of a team of well-known figures.
It’s understated but charming, and good viewing while expecting Santa to visit.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄
A Star-Studded Family Drama
Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a bickering 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 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 the concept, but in reality it’s really a mash-up of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last takes center stage.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
Formulaic Fun
The day’s taken a dip, but happily here’s a new entry in the saturated market of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and strangely compelling—seasonal comfort food.
It’s a tale 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