Marathon Viewing This Year's Christmas Films: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.
‘Tis the time of year to lounge on the sofa and devour a packet of holiday pastries in front of a good movie, a poor film, or one that’s so bad it’s good.
Once again, a crop of latest seasonal stories hopes to be part of our holiday traditions—perhaps even finding a spot alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).
So, in a noble effort to separate the winners from the losers, and to embrace the holiday mood, I watched as many fresh Christmas films as possible in a single day.
Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
Starting, hopefully, on a high. This is the only 2025 entry on a well-known aggregator's list of the greatest 100 Christmas movies of all time.
The popular band end up stuck in the UK after finishing their global concert series and must make it back for Christmas. Their attempts are hindered by an evil Santa, who bursts into melody to state they won’t get home until they “rekindle their brotherly magic.”
The repartee between the arguing trio is enjoyable even for the casual viewer, while devotees will undoubtedly catch lots of in-jokes as they try to get back using any means of transport necessary.
It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.
It’s not a timeless masterpiece, but is excellent for devotees and a good start to the day.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their relatives who are obliged to sit through it.
Late Morning: Tinsel Town
Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland appears as a Hollywood star roped into a traditional British stage show.
“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and ageing star Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose representative has tricked him into thinking he’s appearing in prestigious English theatre.
His pantomime cast-mates tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he insists angrily. It's easy to predict their retort. Unless you’re ignorant of traditional stage call-and-response.
There are some great jokes, some heartwarming sub-plots, and the ensemble is cracking, too.
It’s the type of film that would be a bit tacky at a different time, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
10.19am - Christmas Karma
An actor pops up at the outset 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 singing black cab driver who collects Mr Sood, the newest interpretation 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 classic narrative unfolds as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is visited by the apparitions of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.
This Indian Scrooge is at least different from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s performance is flat—a problem when he’s so the focal point.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
12.04pm - Stuffed
There’s time for a network's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “avoids Christmas.”
But after he is awarded an large festive windfall at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) talks him into blowing the money on a family trip to Lapland.
There’s just one problem—he finds out there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to return the remainder.
Fun while it lasts but not lasting.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
A Classy Netflix Romance
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.
High-powered businesswoman Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a country estate to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. En route, she runs into a guy in a literary haven who offers to show her Christmas in Paris.
An expert recently claimed this is the best new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a holiday love story with a hint of sophistication and gives the obligatory warm and fuzzy feels.
The scene with a extended debate about Die Hard is notable too.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄
3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas
Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, in spite of the attempts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him otherwise.
The answer is out there, and Chris sets out to find it with the assistance of a team of well-known figures.
It’s understated but sweet, and ideal viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄
4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.
Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a bickering American family who gather 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 declaring: “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 combination of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last finds her strength.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret
The day’s gone downhill, but fortunately here’s a new entry in the saturated market of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and highly entertaining—holiday fare.
It’s a tale as familiar as can be: An American woman goes on a quest to a far-off wintery locale and ends up stumbling across romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
