Devouring The Latest Festive Features: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

It is the season to lounge on the sofa and consume a box of festive treats in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

Once again, a batch of new holiday movies hopes to be part of our holiday traditions—perhaps even earning a place alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

Therefore, in a noble effort to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to get into the holiday mood, I marathoned as many fresh Christmas films as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Kicking off, optimistically, on a positive note. This release is the only 2025 title on a famous website's list of the top 100 holiday films of all time.

The Jonas Brothers find themselves trapped in the UK after wrapping up their world tour and must return for Christmas. Their efforts are hampered by an villainous Saint Nick, who bursts into melody to announce they won’t get home until they “rediscover their familial spark.”

The back-and-forth between the squabbling siblings is entertaining even for the non-fan, while devotees will undoubtedly pick up on lots of references as they try to get back using any means of transport necessary.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

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

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

Next: A Star in Panto

A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a Hollywood star tricked into a pantomime.

“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and ageing star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose agent has tricked him into thinking he’s performing in prestigious English theatre.

His Aladdin cast-mates let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he insists angrily. You can guess their reply. That is, unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some very funny lines, some touching sub-plots, and the ensemble is brilliant, too.

It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit cheesy at any other time of year, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

An actor appears at the beginning of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second consecutive movie. Is this a new Christmas tradition?

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who collects Mr Sood, the latest spin on Mr Scrooge from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Mr Sood is played by an actor from Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by the filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story develops as the stingy Mr Sood is haunted by the spirits of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This cultural adaptation is at least different from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s portrayal is lifeless—a problem when he’s so the main character.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

There's just enough time for a major broadcaster's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”

But after he gets an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) convinces him splurging the cash on a holiday to Lapland.

There’s just one snag—he discovers there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to pay back the difference.

Fun while it lasts but not lasting.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

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

Ambitious executive Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a vineyard to negotiate a purchase for a champagne business. During her travels, she meets a man in a bookshop who vows to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

An expert 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 Christmas romance 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

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

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

It’s gentle but charming, and ideal viewing while expecting Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a bickering American family who come back together for the holidays—including other acclaimed actress 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 declaring: “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 forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally takes center stage.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s taken a dip, but happily here’s a new addition in the saturated market of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and strangely compelling—festive fodder.

It’s a story as well-worn: An American woman journeys to a picturesque cold country and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher