Devouring 2025's Holiday Movies: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

It is the season to relax on the sofa and demolish a tin of festive treats in front of a good movie, a bad movie, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

This year, a crop of new holiday movies strives to join part of our festive viewing—potentially even earning a place alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).

Thus, in a helpful attempt to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to embrace the festive feeling, I binged as many new festive movies as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Beginning, hopefully, on a good foot. This release is the only 2025 title on a well-known aggregator's list of the best 100 holiday films of all time.

The musical trio find themselves trapped in the UK after concluding their global concert series and must get home for Christmas. Their endeavors are thwarted by an evil Santa, who bursts into melody to declare they won’t get home until they “rediscover their brotherly magic.”

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

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

It’s not legendary, but is excellent for fans and a solid start to the day.

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

8.45am - Tinsel Town

Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland stars as a celebrity roped into a pantomime.

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and older lead Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times 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. “No I'm not,” he protests. It's easy to predict their reply. Except if you’re ignorant of traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some hilarious moments, some heartwarming side stories, and the rest of the cast is excellent, too.

It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit tacky at any other time of year, but is a great entertainment at Christmas.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma

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

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who picks up Mr Sood, the modern take 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 unfolds as the stingy Mr Sood is confronted by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This cultural adaptation is at least unique from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s performance is lifeless—a problem when he’s so the main character.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

Before lunch for a network's holiday special—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 spending the sum on a family trip to Lapland.

There’s just one issue—he learns there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to return the excess.

Fun while it lasts but not lasting.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

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

Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a vineyard to do a deal for a sparkling wine company. During her travels, she encounters a guy in a literary haven who offers to show her Christmas in Paris.

A commentator recently declared this is the best new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a festive dalliance with a touch of class and gives the required warm and fuzzy feels.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

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

The secret is somewhere, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the guidance of a team of well-known experts and celebrities.

It’s understated but endearing, and ideal viewing while expecting Santa to visit.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother 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 saying: “They need to make a movie about the true heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the concept, but in practice it’s really a combination of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last comes into her own.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s gone downhill, but happily here’s a new entry in the crowded field of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and utterly watchable—holiday fare.

It’s a narrative as familiar as can be: An American woman travels to a picturesque cold country and ends up stumbling across romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher