Devouring 2025's Christmas Films: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights.

‘Tis the season to slob out on the sofa and demolish a tin of holiday pastries in front of a good movie, a bad movie, or one that’s awesomely awful.

This year, a selection of fresh holiday movies aims to become part of our seasonal watchlist—potentially even earning a place alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).

Therefore, in a vital public service to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to find the holiday mood, I marathoned as many recent festive movies as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Beginning, optimistically, on a positive note. This is the exclusive 2025 movie on a popular review site's list of the best 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The Jonas Brothers end up trapped in the UK after finishing their world tour and must get home for Christmas. Their efforts are hampered by an evil Santa, who breaks into song to state they won’t get home until they “rekindle their brotherly magic.”

The banter between the arguing trio is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while devotees will certainly catch lots of easter eggs as they try to get back using every mode of travel possible.

It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.

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

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

8.45am - Tinsel Town

A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland appears as a celebrity tricked into a "panto".

“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and older action hero Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose representative has tricked him into thinking he’s performing in renowned British drama.

His Aladdin fellow actors let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he insists angrily. One can imagine their reply. That is, unless you’re not acquainted with traditional British theatre traditions.

There are some hilarious moments, some cockle-warming side stories, and the ensemble is excellent, too.

It’s the type of film that would be a bit cheesy at any other time of year, but is a great entertainment at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

A familiar face shows up at the beginning of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the next movie straight. Could this be a new Christmas tradition?

This time, he’s a singing black cab driver who picks up Mr Sood, the newest interpretation 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 well-known tale progresses as the stingy Mr Sood is visited by the apparitions of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This cultural adaptation is at least different from all the others, but sadly he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s performance is flat—a major flaw when he’s so the main character.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

There's just enough time for a channel's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”

But after he is awarded an large festive windfall at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) convinces him blowing the money on a family trip 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 devise a plan for how to reimburse the remainder.

Fun while it lasts but not lasting.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the setting—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.

Driven corporate star Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is sent to a country estate to negotiate a purchase for a champagne business. During her travels, she meets a man in a book store who vows to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

A commentator recently claimed this is the best new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a holiday love story with a dash of elegance and gives the obligatory cozy feelings.

The scene with a extended debate about Die Hard is particularly strong too.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas

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

The secret is to be discovered, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the expert help of a team of well-known scientists and personalities.

It’s low-key but charming, and good viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a dysfunctional American family who gather 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 the premise, but in practice it’s really a mash-up of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally finds her strength.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s taken a dip, but happily here’s a new addition in the saturated market of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and utterly watchable—festive fodder.

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

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher