Binge-Watching The Latest Holiday Movies: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights.

‘Tis the time of year to slob out on the couch and consume a packet of mince pies in front of a good movie, a bad movie, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

As always, a crop of new seasonal stories hopes to be part of our seasonal watchlist—maybe even joining the ranks alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).

So, in a noble effort to separate the winners from the losers, and to embrace the holiday mood, I marathoned as many new holiday releases as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Beginning, optimistically, on a positive note. This film is the only 2025 title on a popular review site's list of the greatest 100 festive features of all time.

The Jonas Brothers end up stuck in the UK after wrapping up their world tour and must return for Christmas. Their efforts are thwarted by an malevolent Father Christmas, who breaks into song to announce they won’t get home until they “rekindle their familial spark.”

The banter between the squabbling siblings is amusing even for the uninitiated, while fans will certainly pick up on lots of references as they endeavor to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

It’s not an all-time classic, but is superb for fans and a positive start to the day.

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

8.45am - Tinsel Town

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland stars as a Hollywood star cast a pantomime.

“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and older action hero Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose manager has deceived him into thinking he’s performing in prestigious English theatre.

His pantomime cast-mates inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he retorts. It's easy to predict their retort. Unless you’re not acquainted with traditional panto catchphrases.

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

It’s the type of film that would be a bit naff at a different time, but is a great entertainment at Christmas.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

Danny Dyer pops up at the outset of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the next movie straight. Could this be a new Christmas tradition?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who collects Mr Sood, the modern take 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 classic narrative develops as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is haunted by the apparitions 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 flat—a significant issue when he’s so the main character.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

Before lunch for a channel's Christmas comedy-drama—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 (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) convinces him spending the sum on a vacation to Lapland.

There’s just one snag—he finds out there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to determine how to return the excess.

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

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

Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a vineyard to negotiate a purchase for a champagne business. En route, she meets a fellow in a bookshop who promises to show her Christmas in Paris.

A commentator recently declared this is the top new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a holiday love story with a touch of class and gives the obligatory cozy feelings.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, regardless of the persuasion of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the reality.

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

It’s low-key but endearing, and ideal viewing while expecting Santa to visit.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

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

Pfeiffer starts by mentioning holiday staples like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before declaring: “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 combination of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally takes center stage.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s taken a dip, but happily here’s a new entry in the crowded field of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and highly entertaining—festive fodder.

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

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher