Devouring This Year's Festive Features: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

‘Tis the season to relax on the couch and devour a tin of mince pies in front of a good movie, a bad movie, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

This year, a crop of new Christmas films strives to join part of our festive viewing—maybe even finding a spot alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).

Therefore, in a noble effort to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to embrace the holiday mood, I marathoned as many new Christmas films as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Kicking off, ideally, on a good foot. This is the sole 2025 entry on a well-known aggregator's list of the best 100 festive features of all time.

The musical trio are stuck in the UK after finishing their global concert series and must make it back for Christmas. Their endeavors are thwarted by an evil Santa, who bursts into melody to declare they won’t get home until they “find their sibling bond.”

The repartee between the bickering brothers is amusing even for the casual viewer, while followers will no doubt pick up on lots of in-jokes as they endeavor to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

It’s not an all-time classic, but is superb for devotees and a solid start to the day.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who must sit through it.

Next: A Star in Panto

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a Hollywood star roped into a "panto".

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and ageing lead 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 fellow actors let him know he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he insists angrily. One can imagine their retort. That is, unless you’re ignorant of traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some very funny lines, some touching side stories, and the ensemble is excellent, 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.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma

Danny Dyer appears at the outset of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the second consecutive movie. Could this be a fresh holiday staple?

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who picks up Mr Sood, the modern take 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 unfolds as the miserly Mr Sood is visited 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 unique from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s performance is flat—a problem when he’s so the main character.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

There's just enough time for a network's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “avoids Christmas.”

But after he receives an large festive windfall at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) convinces 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 figure out how to pay back the excess.

Fun while it lasts but not lasting.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

This is one of those Christmas films where the festive trappings are in the backdrop—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.

High-powered businesswoman Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a country estate to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. En route, she meets a guy in a bookshop who offers to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

A critic recently stated this is the finest new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a holiday love story with a dash of elegance and gives the obligatory warm and fuzzy feels.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, in spite of the persuasion of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the reality.

The secret is to be discovered, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the guidance of a group of well-known experts and celebrities.

It’s gentle but charming, and good viewing while expecting 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 other acclaimed actress Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer begins by referencing classic festive films 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 reality it’s really a combination of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last comes into her own.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s gone downhill, but happily here’s a new addition in the packed genre of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and strangely compelling—holiday fare.

It’s a tale as old as time: An American woman journeys to a far-off wintery locale and ends up finding romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher