Binge-Watching The Latest Holiday Movies: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

‘Tis the season to lounge on the sofa and devour a packet of festive treats in front of a terrific flick, a bad movie, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

Once again, a selection of fresh Christmas films aims to become part of our festive viewing—perhaps even finding a spot alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).

So, in a noble effort to separate the winners from the losers, and to find the holiday mood, I marathoned as many fresh festive movies as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Kicking off, hopefully, on a positive note. This film is the sole 2025 movie on a well-known aggregator's list of the top 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The popular band find themselves stranded in the UK after concluding their international trek and must return for Christmas. Their efforts are hampered by an villainous Saint Nick, who bursts into melody to announce they won’t get home until they “rediscover their brotherly magic.”

The back-and-forth between the bickering brothers is enjoyable even for the casual viewer, while fans will certainly catch lots of in-jokes as they attempt to get back using any means of transport necessary.

It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.

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

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

Late Morning: Tinsel Town

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland stars as a Hollywood star roped into a traditional British stage show.

“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and aging action hero Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose representative has misled him into thinking he’s performing in high-class London stage.

His Aladdin cast-mates let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he insists angrily. One can imagine their reply. Except if you’re not acquainted with traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some very funny lines, some touching sub-plots, and the ensemble is cracking, too.

It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit cheesy at a different time, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma

A familiar face pops up at the start of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the next movie straight. Could this be a new Christmas tradition?

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who encounters 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 director of Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story progresses as the miserly Mr Sood is visited by the apparitions of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This South Asian reinterpretation is at least unique from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s portrayal is flat—a significant issue when he’s so central to everything.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

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 £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) convinces him blowing the money on a family trip to Lapland.

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

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the backdrop—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 (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a country estate to negotiate a purchase for a champagne business. During her travels, she meets a fellow in a book store who offers to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

A commentator recently declared this is the best new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a festive dalliance with a dash of elegance and gives the obligatory cozy feelings.

The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is notable too.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas

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

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

It’s gentle but endearing, and good viewing while expecting Santa to visit.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a quarrelling American family who reunite for the holidays—including other acclaimed actress Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer starts by mentioning holiday staples like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before stating: “They need to make a movie about the unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the premise, but in practice it’s really a mash-up of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally finds her strength.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

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

It’s a tale as old as time: An American woman journeys to a distant snowy land and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher