Devouring This Year's Holiday Movies: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.
It is the time of year to relax on the couch and consume a packet of mince pies in front of a good movie, a awful feature, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.
Once again, a batch of fresh holiday movies hopes to be part of our festive viewing—perhaps even earning a place alongside beloved favorites 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 find the Christmas spirit, I binged as many fresh holiday releases as possible in a single day.
7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
Starting, ideally, on a high. This is the exclusive 2025 title on a popular review site's list of the top 100 Christmas movies of all time.
The popular band are trapped in the UK after finishing their global concert series and must get home for Christmas. Their attempts are hampered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who bursts into melody to announce they won’t get home until they “rediscover their brotherly magic.”
The back-and-forth between the arguing trio is entertaining even for the non-fan, while fans will undoubtedly notice lots of easter eggs as they try to get back using every mode of travel possible.
It’s a travelogue of mishaps.
It’s not legendary, but is great for devotees and a good start to the day.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who will have to sit through it.
8.45am - Tinsel Town
A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland stars as a Hollywood star tricked into a pantomime.
“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and aging star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose manager has deceived him into thinking he’s appearing in high-class London stage.
His Aladdin cast-mates inform him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he insists angrily. One can imagine their reply. Except if you’re ignorant of traditional British theatre traditions.
There are some hilarious moments, some cockle-warming sub-plots, and the supporting actors is excellent, too.
It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit naff at a different time, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
A New Spin on Scrooge
An actor pops up at the start of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the next movie straight. Might this become a fresh holiday staple?
This time, he’s a singing black cab driver 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative unfolds as the stingy Mr Sood is haunted by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.
This cultural adaptation is at least unique from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s portrayal is lifeless—a significant issue when he’s so the focal point.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄
12.04pm - Stuffed
Before lunch 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 (played by Morgana Robinson) convinces him blowing the money on a vacation to Lapland.
There’s just one snag—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.
Enjoyable but forgettable.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄
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.
Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a country estate to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she runs into a man in a literary haven who vows to show her Christmas in Paris.
An expert recently claimed this is the finest new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a holiday love story with a dash of elegance and gives the necessary warm and fuzzy feels.
The scene with a extended debate about Die Hard is notable too.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄
3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas
Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, despite the persuasion of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the reality.
The secret is out there, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the guidance of a team of well-known scientists and personalities.
It’s understated but charming, and perfect viewing while anticipating Santa to visit.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄
4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.
Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a dysfunctional American family who reunite for the holidays—including fellow acclaimed actress Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.
Pfeiffer begins by referencing 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 true heroes of the holidays—moms.”
So that’s the premise, but in reality it’s really a mash-up of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually finds her strength.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret
The day’s gone downhill, but happily here’s a new entry in the saturated market of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and strangely compelling—seasonal comfort food.
It’s a narrative as familiar as can be: An American woman travels to a far-off wintery locale and ends up stumbling across romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
