Binge-Watching The Latest Festive Features: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.
‘Tis the time of year to slob out on the sofa and devour a box of mince pies in front of a terrific flick, a poor film, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.
This year, a batch of latest holiday movies hopes to be part of our festive viewing—maybe even joining the ranks alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).
So, in a vital public service to separate the winners from the losers, and to embrace the festive feeling, I watched as many recent Christmas films as possible in a single day.
7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
Kicking off, hopefully, on a high. This is the sole 2025 title on a popular review site's list of the greatest 100 Christmas movies of all time.
The musical trio end up stranded in the UK after wrapping up their international trek and must make it back for Christmas. Their efforts are hampered by an villainous Saint Nick, who bursts into melody to announce they won’t get home until they “find their familial spark.”
The repartee between the arguing trio is entertaining even for the non-fan, while devotees will certainly catch lots of in-jokes as they try to get back using every mode of travel possible.
It’s a travelogue of mishaps.
It’s not an all-time classic, but is excellent for fans and a good start to the day.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who must sit through it.
Late Morning: Tinsel Town
Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland appears as a Hollywood star cast a traditional British stage show.
“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and ageing star Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose manager has misled him into thinking he’s performing in renowned British drama.
His pantomime fellow actors tell him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he protests. You can guess their reply. Unless you’re not acquainted with traditional panto catchphrases.
There are some very funny lines, some touching sub-plots, and the ensemble is excellent, too.
It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit cheesy at a different time, but is a great entertainment at Christmas.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
10.19am - Christmas Karma
A familiar face shows up at the outset of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second consecutive movie. Might this become a fresh holiday staple?
This time, he’s a singing black cab driver 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 well-known tale progresses 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 South Asian reinterpretation is at least different from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s portrayal is flat—a problem when he’s so the main character.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄
Lunchtime: Stuffed
Before lunch for a channel's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”
But after he receives an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) persuades him splurging the cash on a holiday to Lapland.
There’s just one issue—he discovers there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to reimburse the excess.
Enjoyable but forgettable.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
1.12pm - Champagne Problems
This is one of those Christmas films where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the setting—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.
Ambitious executive Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is assigned to a vineyard to secure an acquisition for a champagne business. During her travels, she encounters a fellow in a bookshop who promises to show her the holidays in the City of Light.
An expert recently claimed this is the best new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a holiday love story with a hint of sophistication and gives the obligatory cozy feelings.
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, continues to believe in Father Christmas, regardless of the efforts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the truth.
The secret is somewhere, and Chris sets out to find it with the guidance of a panel of well-known experts and celebrities.
It’s low-key but sweet, and perfect viewing while expecting Santa to visit.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄
Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.
Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a quarrelling American family who gather for the holidays—including fellow acclaimed actress Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.
Pfeiffer opens by name-dropping holiday staples 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 what this is, but in execution it’s really a jumble of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last comes into her own.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret
The day’s taken a dip, but thankfully here’s a new addition in the saturated market of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and utterly watchable—seasonal comfort food.
It’s a story as well-worn: An American woman goes on a quest to a distant snowy land and ends up finding romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
