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

‘Tis the season to relax on the couch and devour a packet of holiday pastries in front of a great film, a awful feature, or one that’s awesomely awful.

As always, a batch of latest holiday movies aims to become part of our holiday traditions—perhaps even finding a spot alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).

Therefore, in a noble effort to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to get into the Christmas spirit, I binged as many new festive movies as possible in a single day.

First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick

Starting, hopefully, on a good foot. This release is the exclusive 2025 movie on a famous website's list of the top 100 holiday films of all time.

The musical trio end up stuck in the UK after concluding their world tour and must make it back for Christmas. Their attempts are hampered by an villainous Saint Nick, who breaks into song to state they won’t get home until they “rediscover their familial spark.”

The repartee between the arguing trio is enjoyable even for the uninitiated, while devotees will certainly notice lots of easter eggs as they try to get back using every mode of travel possible.

It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their relatives who will have to sit through it.

Next: A Star in Panto

Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland appears as a celebrity cast a pantomime.

“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and ageing star Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose representative has misled him into thinking he’s appearing in high-class London stage.

His pantomime cast-mates tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. You can guess their retort. Unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some great jokes, some cockle-warming side stories, and the rest of the cast is excellent, too.

It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit cheesy at another season, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

A New Spin on Scrooge

Danny Dyer pops up at the outset of this film, too, insulting someone for the second consecutive movie. Could this be a fresh holiday staple?

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who collects Mr Sood, the newest interpretation 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 develops as the stingy Mr Sood is confronted by the ghosts of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This Indian Scrooge is at least different from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s performance is lifeless—a problem when he’s so central to everything.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

There's just enough time for a major broadcaster's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “isn't big on Christmas.”

But after he receives an large festive windfall at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) talks him into blowing the money on a holiday to Lapland.

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

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

This is one of those Christmas films where the festive trappings are in the backdrop—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same.

Ambitious executive Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a vineyard to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. En route, she runs into a man in a book store who offers to show her a festive Paris.

A commentator recently stated this is the finest new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a festive dalliance with a dash of elegance and gives the necessary cozy feelings.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, despite the attempts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the reality.

The secret is to be discovered, and Chris sets out to find it with the guidance of a panel of well-known figures.

It’s low-key but charming, and ideal viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a bickering American family who gather for the holidays—including other Oscar nominee 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 unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s what this is, but in practice it’s really a combination of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last takes center stage.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s gone downhill, but happily here’s a new entry in the saturated market of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and utterly watchable—seasonal comfort food.

It’s a story as familiar as can be: An American woman travels to a distant snowy land and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher