Devouring 2025's Christmas Films: 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 tin of mince pies in front of a good movie, a bad movie, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

As always, a crop of fresh seasonal stories aims to become part of our seasonal watchlist—perhaps even earning a place alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).

So, in a noble effort to separate the winners from the losers, and to get into the Christmas spirit, I marathoned as many recent Christmas films as possible in a single day.

First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick

Kicking off, hopefully, on a good foot. This release is the sole 2025 entry on a famous website's list of the greatest 100 holiday films of all time.

The musical trio end up stuck in the UK after concluding their global concert series and must get home for Christmas. Their endeavors are hampered by an evil Santa, who bursts into melody to state they won’t get home until they “find their brotherly magic.”

The repartee between the squabbling siblings is enjoyable even for the non-fan, while devotees will undoubtedly notice lots of references as they endeavor to get back using every mode of travel possible.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

It’s not legendary, but is excellent for devotees and a good start to the day.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who are obliged to sit through it.

8.45am - Tinsel Town

Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland appears as a movie actor tricked into a traditional British stage show.

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and ageing action hero Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose manager has tricked him into thinking he’s starring in high-class London stage.

His pantomime cast-mates tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he protests. One can imagine their reply. Except if you’re ignorant of traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some very funny lines, some touching sub-plots, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

An actor shows up at the beginning of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second film in a row. Is this a budding festive ritual?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who collects Mr Sood, the latest spin on Mr Scrooge from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Mr Sood is played by an actor from Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by the filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story progresses as the stingy Mr Sood is haunted by the apparitions of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This Indian Scrooge is at least distinct from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s performance is wooden—a problem when he’s so central to everything.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

Before lunch for a network's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”

But after he receives an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) persuades him blowing the money on a vacation to Lapland.

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

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

This is one of those holiday movies where the decorations and snow are in the background—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels cosy and festive all the same.

High-powered businesswoman Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a country estate to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. During her travels, she encounters a man in a book store who vows to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

A commentator recently stated 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 dash of elegance and gives the required heartwarming sensation.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas

Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, despite the efforts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the truth.

The answer is to be discovered, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the assistance of a team of well-known scientists and personalities.

It’s gentle but sweet, and ideal viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a bickering American family who come back together for the holidays—including fellow acclaimed actress Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer opens by name-dropping holiday staples like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before saying: “They need to make a movie about the true heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s what this is, but in practice it’s really a jumble of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually takes center stage.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the saturated market of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and utterly watchable—festive fodder.

It’s a tale as old as time: 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