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

It is the time of year to relax on the couch and consume a packet of holiday pastries in front of a terrific flick, a bad movie, or one that’s awesomely awful.

Once again, a selection of fresh Christmas films aims to become part of our holiday traditions—potentially even joining the ranks alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

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

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Kicking off, optimistically, on a positive note. This is the only 2025 entry on a popular review site's list of the top 100 holiday films of all time.

The Jonas Brothers are stuck in the UK after concluding their global concert series and must return for Christmas. Their attempts are hampered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who breaks into song to state they won’t get home until they “rediscover their brotherly magic.”

The banter between the bickering brothers is enjoyable even for the non-fan, while fans will certainly catch lots of references as they attempt to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

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

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

8.45am - Tinsel Town

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

“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and ageing lead Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose manager has tricked him into thinking he’s performing in prestigious English theatre.

His Aladdin cast-mates inform him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he protests. It's easy to predict their reply. Unless you’re ignorant of traditional British theatre traditions.

There are some great jokes, some cockle-warming storylines, and the ensemble is excellent, too.

It’s the type of film that would be a bit tacky at another season, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

An actor shows up at the beginning of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second film in a row. Could this be a budding festive ritual?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who encounters Mr Sood, the newest interpretation 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 well-known tale develops as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is visited by the apparitions of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This cultural adaptation is at least different from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s acting is lifeless—a significant issue when he’s so central to everything.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

There’s time for a channel's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man 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 blowing the money on a holiday to Lapland.

There’s just one problem—he finds out there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to pay back the excess.

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

This is one of those holiday movies where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the setting—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its main point—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same.

Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a vineyard to secure an acquisition for a champagne business. During her travels, she runs into a guy in a bookshop who promises to show her a festive Paris.

A commentator recently declared this is the finest new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a festive dalliance with a dash of elegance and gives the necessary 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, despite 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 panel of well-known figures.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a dysfunctional American family who gather for the holidays—including other acclaimed actress Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer opens by name-dropping Christmas classics like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before stating: “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 mash-up of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually finds her strength.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s waned in quality, but happily here’s a new offering in the saturated market of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and utterly watchable—seasonal comfort food.

It’s a tale as old as time: An American woman travels to a picturesque cold country and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher