🔗 Share this article Marathon Viewing 2025's Holiday Movies: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good. It is the season to lounge on the couch and consume a box of holiday pastries in front of a great film, a awful feature, or one that’s awesomely awful. Once again, a batch of fresh holiday movies hopes to be part of our festive viewing—perhaps even joining the ranks alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it). Thus, in a noble effort to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to embrace the holiday mood, I binged as many new Christmas films as possible in a single day. Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie Kicking off, hopefully, on a positive note. This film is the only 2025 movie on a well-known aggregator's list of the greatest 100 holiday films of all time. The Jonas Brothers are stranded in the UK after concluding their world tour and must return for Christmas. Their endeavors are hindered by an villainous Saint Nick, who sings to announce they won’t get home until they “rediscover their sibling bond.” The banter between the squabbling siblings is amusing even for the non-fan, while followers will no doubt notice lots of easter eggs as they endeavor to get back using all transportation available. It’s a travelogue of mishaps. It’s not legendary, but is superb for devotees and a good start to the day. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who must sit through it. 8.45am - Tinsel Town Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland appears as a celebrity cast a traditional British stage show. “A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and aging action hero Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose manager has deceived him into thinking he’s starring in renowned British drama. His Aladdin fellow actors tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he retorts. You can guess their response. Unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional British theatre traditions. There are some very funny lines, some cockle-warming sub-plots, and the ensemble is brilliant, too. It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit naff at another season, but is a great entertainment at Christmas. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 A New Spin on Scrooge A familiar face pops up at the start of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second film in a row. Might this become a fresh holiday staple? This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who encounters 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 familiar story progresses as the miserly Mr Sood is confronted by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George. This South Asian reinterpretation is at least distinct from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s portrayal is wooden—a major flaw when he’s so the main character. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 12.04pm - Stuffed There's just enough time for a network's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “isn't big on Christmas.” But after he gets an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) convinces him blowing the money on a family trip to Lapland. There’s just one problem—he discovers there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to determine how to return the remainder. Pleasant yet unmemorable. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄 Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems This is one of those Christmas films where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the backdrop—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels cosy and festive all the same. Driven corporate star Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is assigned to a vineyard to do a deal for a sparkling wine company. En route, she meets a guy in a book store who offers to show her a festive Paris. A commentator recently declared this is the best new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a festive dalliance with a hint of sophistication and gives the obligatory warm and fuzzy feels. The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is particularly strong too. Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄 Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, in spite of the efforts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the reality. The truth is somewhere, and Chris sets out to find it with the expert help of a panel of well-known experts and celebrities. It’s gentle but sweet, and ideal viewing while expecting Santa to visit. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun. Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a dysfunctional American family who reunite for the holidays—including fellow Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary. Pfeiffer starts by mentioning 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 real champions of the holidays—moms.” So that’s the premise, but in reality it’s really a mash-up of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually comes into her own. Festive score: 🎄🎄 Formulaic Fun The day’s taken a dip, but happily here’s a new addition in the crowded field of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and strangely compelling—holiday fare. It’s a story as well-worn: An American woman goes on a quest to a picturesque cold country and ends up stumbling across romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
It is the season to lounge on the couch and consume a box of holiday pastries in front of a great film, a awful feature, or one that’s awesomely awful. Once again, a batch of fresh holiday movies hopes to be part of our festive viewing—perhaps even joining the ranks alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it). Thus, in a noble effort to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to embrace the holiday mood, I binged as many new Christmas films as possible in a single day. Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie Kicking off, hopefully, on a positive note. This film is the only 2025 movie on a well-known aggregator's list of the greatest 100 holiday films of all time. The Jonas Brothers are stranded in the UK after concluding their world tour and must return for Christmas. Their endeavors are hindered by an villainous Saint Nick, who sings to announce they won’t get home until they “rediscover their sibling bond.” The banter between the squabbling siblings is amusing even for the non-fan, while followers will no doubt notice lots of easter eggs as they endeavor to get back using all transportation available. It’s a travelogue of mishaps. It’s not legendary, but is superb for devotees and a good start to the day. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who must sit through it. 8.45am - Tinsel Town Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland appears as a celebrity cast a traditional British stage show. “A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and aging action hero Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose manager has deceived him into thinking he’s starring in renowned British drama. His Aladdin fellow actors tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he retorts. You can guess their response. Unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional British theatre traditions. There are some very funny lines, some cockle-warming sub-plots, and the ensemble is brilliant, too. It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit naff at another season, but is a great entertainment at Christmas. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 A New Spin on Scrooge A familiar face pops up at the start of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second film in a row. Might this become a fresh holiday staple? This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who encounters 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 familiar story progresses as the miserly Mr Sood is confronted by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George. This South Asian reinterpretation is at least distinct from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s portrayal is wooden—a major flaw when he’s so the main character. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 12.04pm - Stuffed There's just enough time for a network's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “isn't big on Christmas.” But after he gets an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) convinces him blowing the money on a family trip to Lapland. There’s just one problem—he discovers there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to determine how to return the remainder. Pleasant yet unmemorable. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄 Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems This is one of those Christmas films where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the backdrop—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels cosy and festive all the same. Driven corporate star Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is assigned to a vineyard to do a deal for a sparkling wine company. En route, she meets a guy in a book store who offers to show her a festive Paris. A commentator recently declared this is the best new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a festive dalliance with a hint of sophistication and gives the obligatory warm and fuzzy feels. The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is particularly strong too. Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄 Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, in spite of the efforts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the reality. The truth is somewhere, and Chris sets out to find it with the expert help of a panel of well-known experts and celebrities. It’s gentle but sweet, and ideal viewing while expecting Santa to visit. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun. Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a dysfunctional American family who reunite for the holidays—including fellow Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary. Pfeiffer starts by mentioning 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 real champions of the holidays—moms.” So that’s the premise, but in reality it’s really a mash-up of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually comes into her own. Festive score: 🎄🎄 Formulaic Fun The day’s taken a dip, but happily here’s a new addition in the crowded field of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and strangely compelling—holiday fare. It’s a story as well-worn: An American woman goes on a quest to a picturesque cold country and ends up stumbling across romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher