Devouring 2025's Christmas Films: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

It is the season to relax on the sofa and devour a packet of holiday pastries in front of a great film, a bad movie, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

Once again, a batch of latest holiday movies strives to join part of our holiday traditions—perhaps even earning a place alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

Therefore, in a vital public service 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.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Beginning, ideally, on a good foot. This release is the exclusive 2025 title on a famous website's list of the greatest 100 holiday films of all time.

The Jonas Brothers end up stuck in the UK after finishing their world tour and must get home for Christmas. Their attempts are hampered by an villainous Saint Nick, who sings to state they won’t get home until they “find their brotherly magic.”

The repartee between the bickering brothers is amusing even for the non-fan, while devotees will certainly catch 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 a timeless masterpiece, but is superb for fans and a positive start to the day.

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

Late Morning: Tinsel Town

A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland stars as a movie actor roped into a "panto".

“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and aging action hero Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose agent has deceived him into thinking he’s appearing in prestigious English theatre.

His Aladdin cast-mates tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he protests. It's easy to predict their retort. Except if you’re unfamiliar with traditional British theatre traditions.

There are some very funny lines, some heartwarming side stories, and the ensemble is brilliant, too.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

A New Spin on Scrooge

A familiar face pops up at the outset of this film, too, insulting someone for the second consecutive movie. Might this become a new Christmas tradition?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who collects Mr Sood, the modern take 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale progresses 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 different from all the others, but sadly he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s acting is flat—a significant issue when he’s so the main character.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

Before lunch for a major broadcaster's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”

But after he receives an large festive windfall at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) persuades him blowing the money on a holiday to Lapland.

There’s just one issue—he finds out there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to reimburse the remainder.

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems

This is one of those holiday movies where the tree, fairy lights and snow 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 (starring Minka Kelly) is sent to a country estate to do a deal for a champagne business. En route, she runs into a man in a literary haven who offers to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

A commentator recently claimed 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 necessary cozy feelings.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas

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

The truth is somewhere, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the expert help of a group of well-known experts and celebrities.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a bickering 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 declaring: “They need to make a movie about the real champions of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the concept, but in execution it’s really a jumble of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually comes into her own.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s gone downhill, but happily here’s a new addition in the crowded field of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and strangely compelling—seasonal comfort food.

It’s a story as well-worn: An American woman journeys to a far-off wintery locale and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher