Binge-Watching 2025's Holiday Movies: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.
‘Tis the season to relax on the couch and devour a box of holiday pastries in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s awesomely awful.
Once again, a batch of latest holiday movies hopes to be part of our festive viewing—potentially even joining the ranks alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).
So, in a noble effort to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to find the festive feeling, I watched as many new festive movies as possible in a single day.
First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick
Kicking off, ideally, on a positive note. This film is the sole 2025 entry on a well-known aggregator's list of the top 100 festive features of all time.
The popular band end up stuck in the UK after finishing their international trek and must make it back for Christmas. Their endeavors are hindered by an evil Santa, who bursts into melody to declare they won’t get home until they “rekindle their brotherly magic.”
The banter between the squabbling siblings is enjoyable even for the casual viewer, while followers will no doubt notice lots of easter eggs as they endeavor to get back using all transportation available.
It’s a journey of epic proportions.
It’s not legendary, but is great for fans and a solid start to the day.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who are obliged to sit through it.
8.45am - Tinsel Town
Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a Hollywood star cast a "panto".
“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and aging star Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose agent has deceived him into thinking he’s appearing in high-class London stage.
His pantomime fellow actors tell him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he protests. You can guess their reply. That is, unless you’re not acquainted with traditional panto catchphrases.
There are some hilarious moments, some heartwarming side stories, and the ensemble is brilliant, too.
It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit naff at a different time, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
10.19am - Christmas Karma
A familiar face appears at the beginning of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second consecutive movie. Might this become a budding festive ritual?
This time, he’s a singing black cab driver 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale develops 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 unique from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s portrayal is flat—a problem when he’s so the main character.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
Noon: A BBC Special
Before lunch for a major broadcaster's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “isn't big on Christmas.”
But after he is awarded an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) talks him into spending the sum on a family trip to Lapland.
There’s just one problem—he finds out there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to reimburse the difference.
Pleasant yet unmemorable.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄
1.12pm - Champagne Problems
This is one of those Christmas films where the decorations and snow are in the background—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its main point—but it feels cosy and festive all the same.
High-powered businesswoman Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is sent to a country estate to secure an acquisition for a champagne business. During her travels, she runs into a guy in a book store who offers to show her a festive Paris.
A critic recently claimed this is the best new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a festive dalliance with a dash of elegance and gives the necessary heartwarming sensation.
The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is notable too.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄
3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas
Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, regardless of the persuasion of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him otherwise.
The secret is out there, and Chris sets out to find it with the expert help of a group of well-known figures.
It’s understated but sweet, and perfect viewing while anticipating Santa to visit.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄
A Star-Studded Family Drama
Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a dysfunctional 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 holiday staples 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 the concept, but in execution it’s really a combination of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually takes center stage.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret
The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new offering in the packed genre of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and utterly watchable—holiday fare.
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
