Marathon Viewing The Latest Holiday Movies: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

It is the season to slob out on the couch and consume a box of holiday pastries in front of a terrific flick, a awful feature, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

Once again, a selection of new Christmas films strives to join part of our festive viewing—perhaps even joining the ranks alongside timeless staples 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 watched as many recent holiday releases as possible in a single day.

First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick

Starting, hopefully, on a positive note. This release is the sole 2025 title on a popular review site's list of the best 100 Christmas movies of all time.

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

The banter between the bickering brothers is entertaining even for the casual viewer, while fans will undoubtedly pick up on lots of easter eggs as they try to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

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

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

Next: A Star in Panto

Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a celebrity tricked into a pantomime.

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and aging lead Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose representative has misled him into thinking he’s performing in prestigious English theatre.

His Aladdin co-stars inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. One can imagine their retort. Unless you’re not acquainted with traditional panto catchphrases.

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

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

Danny Dyer shows up at the outset of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the next movie straight. Is this a budding festive ritual?

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who encounters Mr Sood, the latest spin 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 the director of Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story develops as the miserly Mr Sood is visited by the ghosts of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

There’s time for a network's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “isn't big on Christmas.”

But after he is awarded an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) convinces him splurging the cash on a holiday to Lapland.

There’s just one issue—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 remainder.

Fun while it lasts but not lasting.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

This is one of those holiday movies where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the backdrop—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.

Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a country estate to do a deal for a champagne business. On the way, she meets a man in a literary haven who offers to show her a festive Paris.

A critic recently claimed this is the finest new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a festive dalliance with a touch of class and gives the required warm and fuzzy feels.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

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

The answer is out there, and Chris sets out to find it with the assistance of a panel of well-known figures.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch 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 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 real champions of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the premise, but in practice it’s really a mash-up of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually comes into her own.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s taken a dip, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the saturated market of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and strangely compelling—festive fodder.

It’s a narrative as familiar as can be: An American woman travels to a far-off wintery locale and ends up finding romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher