Binge-Watching The Latest Festive Features: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

It is the time of year to slob out on the couch and demolish a box of holiday pastries in front of a good movie, a bad movie, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

This year, a crop of new holiday movies hopes to be part of our seasonal watchlist—potentially even finding a spot alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).

So, in a helpful attempt to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to embrace the festive feeling, I marathoned as many fresh holiday releases as possible in a single day.

First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick

Kicking off, hopefully, on a positive note. This release is the only 2025 entry on a popular review site's list of the greatest 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The popular band are stranded in the UK after concluding their international trek and must return for Christmas. Their efforts are hindered by an villainous Saint Nick, who breaks into song to declare they won’t get home until they “rediscover their familial spark.”

The repartee between the squabbling siblings is amusing even for the casual viewer, while followers will undoubtedly pick up on lots of references as they endeavor to get back using every mode of travel possible.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

It’s not legendary, but is superb for fans and a solid start to the day.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their relatives who will have to sit through it.

8.45am - Tinsel Town

A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland appears as a celebrity cast a pantomime.

“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and older lead Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose agent has deceived him into thinking he’s appearing in renowned British drama.

His pantomime cast-mates tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he retorts. One can imagine their reply. Unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some very funny lines, some heartwarming storylines, and the ensemble is cracking, too.

It’s the type of film that would be a bit naff at any other time of year, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

A New Spin on Scrooge

Danny Dyer pops up 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 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 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 different from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s acting is wooden—a problem when he’s so the main character.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

There's just enough time for a channel's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”

But after he receives an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) talks him into splurging the cash on a family trip to Lapland.

There’s just one issue—he discovers there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to reimburse the excess.

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems

This is one of those Christmas films where the festive trappings are in the background—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its main point—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.

Driven corporate star Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is assigned to a French chateau to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. During her travels, she runs into a fellow in a book store who promises to show her Christmas in Paris.

A commentator recently claimed this is the best new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a Christmas romance with a touch of class and gives the obligatory heartwarming sensation.

The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is notable too.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas

Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, regardless of the persuasion of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the reality.

The answer is somewhere, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the expert help of a group of well-known scientists and personalities.

It’s low-key but charming, and good 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 come back together for the holidays—including other Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer starts by mentioning 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 unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s what this is, but in execution it’s really a mash-up of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually finds her strength.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new addition in the saturated market of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and strangely compelling—festive fodder.

It’s a narrative as old as time: An American woman travels to a far-off wintery locale and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher