Marathon Viewing This Year's Holiday Movies: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights.

‘Tis the season to slob out on the couch and devour a tin of mince pies in front of a terrific flick, a poor film, or one that’s awesomely awful.

As always, a batch of latest seasonal stories aims to become 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).

So, in a noble effort to separate the winners from the losers, and to embrace the Christmas spirit, I watched as many fresh Christmas films as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Starting, ideally, on a positive note. This release is the only 2025 movie on a well-known aggregator's list of the top 100 festive features of all time.

The musical trio are stuck in the UK after finishing their world tour and must get home for Christmas. Their efforts are thwarted by an villainous Saint Nick, who sings to declare they won’t get home until they “find their brotherly magic.”

The repartee between the bickering brothers is amusing even for the uninitiated, while devotees will certainly catch lots of references as they try to get back using any means of transport necessary.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

It’s not a timeless masterpiece, but is excellent for devotees and a solid start to the day.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who will have to sit through it.

8.45am - Tinsel Town

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland stars as a movie actor roped into a "panto".

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

His Aladdin cast-mates tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. One can imagine their reply. Unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some hilarious moments, some cockle-warming sub-plots, and the ensemble is cracking, too.

It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit cheesy at another season, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

A New Spin on Scrooge

Danny Dyer appears at the start of this film, too, insulting someone for the second consecutive movie. Could this be a budding festive ritual?

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who picks up Mr Sood, the newest interpretation on Mr Scrooge from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Mr Sood is played by a star of Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by the filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story develops as the stingy Mr Sood is confronted by the apparitions of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This Indian Scrooge is at least distinct from all the others, but sadly he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s acting is lifeless—a problem when he’s so the main character.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

Before lunch for a major broadcaster's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “isn't big on Christmas.”

But after he receives an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) talks him into spending the sum 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 return the excess.

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

This is one of those Christmas films where the festive trappings are in the backdrop—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its main point—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.

Driven corporate star Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a vineyard to do a deal for a champagne business. On the way, she meets a man in a book store who vows to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

An expert recently declared this is the finest new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a festive dalliance with a dash of elegance and gives the obligatory warm and fuzzy feels.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas

Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, regardless of the attempts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the reality.

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

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a dysfunctional American family who come back together for the holidays—including other Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer starts by mentioning 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 unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the concept, but in practice it’s really a mash-up of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally takes center stage.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the saturated market of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and highly entertaining—holiday fare.

It’s a story as well-worn: An American woman travels to a picturesque cold country and ends up finding romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher