Devouring This Year's Holiday Movies: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.
‘Tis the season to slob out on the couch and consume a box of holiday pastries in front of a good movie, a poor film, or one that’s so bad it’s good.
As always, a selection of new Christmas films aims to become part of our holiday traditions—maybe even finding a spot alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).
Therefore, in a helpful attempt to separate the winners from the losers, and to find the Christmas spirit, I binged as many new Christmas films as possible in a single day.
First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick
Beginning, ideally, on a high. This film is the only 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 global concert series and must return for Christmas. Their attempts are hampered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who breaks into song to announce they won’t get home until they “rekindle their sibling bond.”
The repartee between the bickering brothers is amusing even for the casual viewer, while devotees will no doubt notice lots of in-jokes as they try to get back using all transportation available.
It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.
It’s not a timeless masterpiece, but is great for devotees and a solid start to the day.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who are obliged to sit through it.
8.45am - Tinsel Town
Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland stars as a celebrity tricked into a traditional British stage show.
“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and older lead Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose representative has tricked him into thinking he’s appearing in prestigious English theatre.
His Aladdin co-stars let him know he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he protests. One can imagine their response. That is, unless you’re ignorant of traditional stage call-and-response.
There are some hilarious moments, some heartwarming side stories, and the rest of the cast 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.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
10.19am - Christmas Karma
A familiar face pops up at the start of this film, too, insulting someone for the second consecutive movie. Could this be a budding festive ritual?
This time, he’s a musical taxi operator 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 director of Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative develops as the stingy Mr Sood is confronted by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.
This Indian Scrooge is at least different from all the others, but sadly he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s acting is wooden—a significant issue when he’s so the focal point.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄
Noon: A BBC Special
There's just enough time for a channel's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”
But after he is awarded an large festive windfall at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) talks him into splurging the cash on a vacation 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 devise a plan for how to reimburse the excess.
Enjoyable but forgettable.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄
A Classy Netflix Romance
This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the setting—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its main point—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.
Ambitious executive Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is assigned to a French chateau to do a deal for a champagne business. On the way, she runs into a guy in a literary haven who promises to show her Christmas in Paris.
An expert recently claimed this is the best 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 required cozy feelings.
The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is particularly strong too.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄
3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas
Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, despite the efforts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him otherwise.
The truth is somewhere, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the expert help of a team of well-known figures.
It’s low-key but sweet, and perfect viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄
Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.
Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a bickering 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 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 unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”
So that’s what this is, but in execution it’s really a jumble of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally finds her strength.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret
The day’s waned in quality, but happily here’s a new addition in the crowded field of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and strangely compelling—seasonal comfort food.
It’s a story as familiar as can be: An American woman journeys to a picturesque cold country and ends up discovering romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
