Devouring The Latest Festive Features: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights.

‘Tis the time of year to slob out on the sofa and consume a tin of festive treats in front of a great film, a bad movie, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

Once again, a crop of fresh holiday movies aims to become part of our holiday traditions—perhaps even earning a place alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).

Therefore, in a vital public service to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to find the Christmas spirit, I watched as many new festive movies as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Kicking off, ideally, on a positive note. This is the only 2025 entry on a famous website's list of the best 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The Jonas Brothers end up stranded in the UK after wrapping up their world tour and must get home for Christmas. Their attempts are hampered by an evil Santa, who sings to declare they won’t get home until they “rekindle their familial spark.”

The back-and-forth between the arguing trio is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while fans will undoubtedly notice lots of in-jokes as they endeavor to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who will have to sit through it.

Late Morning: Tinsel Town

A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland stars as a Hollywood star tricked into a traditional British stage show.

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and aging star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose manager has tricked him into thinking he’s performing in prestigious English theatre.

His pantomime fellow actors tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. It's easy to predict their reply. Unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional stage call-and-response.

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

It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit tacky at another season, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

An actor shows up at the beginning of this film, too, insulting someone for the second film in a row. Is this a new Christmas tradition?

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who collects 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 director of Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative unfolds as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is confronted by the ghosts of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This Indian Scrooge is at least unique from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s acting is lifeless—a major flaw when he’s so the main character.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

There’s time for a channel's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “avoids Christmas.”

But after he is awarded an sizable holiday payout 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 discovers there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to reimburse the difference.

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems

This is one of those Christmas films where the decorations and snow are in the background—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same.

Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a country estate to negotiate a purchase for a champagne business. During her travels, she encounters a man in a literary haven who offers to show her Christmas in Paris.

A commentator recently claimed this is the top new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a festive dalliance with a touch of class and gives the necessary warm and fuzzy feels.

The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is particularly strong too.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas

Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, regardless of the persuasion of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him otherwise.

The answer is to be discovered, and Chris sets out to find it with the expert help of a group of well-known experts and celebrities.

It’s gentle but charming, and perfect viewing while anticipating Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a quarrelling American family who gather for the holidays—including other Oscar nominee 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 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 mash-up of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last takes center stage.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s waned in quality, but fortunately here’s a new entry in the saturated market of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and utterly watchable—seasonal comfort food.

It’s a story as familiar as can be: An American woman travels to a distant snowy land and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher