Devouring This Year's Holiday Movies: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

‘Tis the time of year to slob out on the couch and devour a packet of holiday pastries in front of a good movie, a bad movie, or one that’s awesomely awful.

As always, a selection of latest holiday movies hopes to be part of our seasonal watchlist—maybe even earning a place alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

Therefore, in a noble effort to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to embrace the festive feeling, I watched as many recent festive movies as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Beginning, hopefully, on a high. This film is the sole 2025 movie on a famous website's list of the greatest 100 festive features of all time.

The Jonas Brothers end up stuck in the UK after concluding their global concert series and must get home for Christmas. Their endeavors are hampered by an villainous Saint Nick, who breaks into song to announce they won’t get home until they “rekindle their sibling bond.”

The repartee between the bickering brothers is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while followers will certainly pick up on lots of in-jokes as they endeavor to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

It’s not a timeless masterpiece, but is superb for fans and a good start to the day.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their relatives who are obliged to sit through it.

Next: A Star in Panto

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland stars as a movie actor tricked into a "panto".

“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and aging star Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose agent has misled him into thinking he’s appearing in prestigious English theatre.

His Aladdin co-stars inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. It's easy to predict their reply. That is, unless you’re ignorant of traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some very funny lines, some cockle-warming storylines, and the ensemble is brilliant, too.

It’s the type of film that would be a bit cheesy at any other time of year, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

An actor pops up at the beginning of this film, too, insulting someone for the second film in a row. Could this be a fresh holiday staple?

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who encounters Mr Sood, the newest interpretation 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale progresses as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is confronted by the spirits of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

Before lunch for a major broadcaster's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “isn't big on Christmas.”

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

There’s just one snag—he finds out there was an mistake 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: 🎄🎄

Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems

This is one of those Christmas films where the decorations and snow are in the setting—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same.

Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a country estate to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. En route, she encounters a fellow in a book store who vows to show her a festive Paris.

A critic recently claimed this is the finest new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a festive dalliance with a dash of elegance and gives the necessary warm and fuzzy feels.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

Sixteen-year-old 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 the truth.

The answer is out there, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the expert help of a panel of well-known scientists and personalities.

It’s understated but sweet, and ideal viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a quarrelling American family who gather for the holidays—including fellow 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 unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the concept, but in reality it’s really a jumble of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally comes into her own.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s taken a dip, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the saturated market of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and utterly watchable—holiday fare.

It’s a tale 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