Devouring 2025's Festive Features: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

It is the time of year to relax on the sofa and demolish a packet of holiday pastries in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s awesomely awful.

Once again, a batch of new Christmas films strives to join part of our holiday traditions—potentially even finding a spot alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).

Thus, in a helpful attempt to separate the winners from the losers, and to get into the holiday mood, I marathoned as many fresh Christmas films as possible in a single day.

First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick

Kicking off, hopefully, on a good foot. This is the exclusive 2025 title on a popular review site's list of the best 100 festive features of all time.

The Jonas Brothers find themselves stuck in the UK after concluding their global concert series and must get home for Christmas. Their endeavors are hindered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who bursts into melody to state they won’t get home until they “rekindle their familial spark.”

The back-and-forth between the bickering brothers is enjoyable even for the non-fan, while devotees will no doubt notice lots of in-jokes as they attempt to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

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 family members who will have to sit through it.

Next: A Star in Panto

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a celebrity cast a traditional British stage show.

“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and ageing lead Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose representative has tricked him into thinking he’s performing in high-class London stage.

His pantomime fellow actors let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. It's easy to predict their reply. Except if you’re not acquainted with traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some very funny lines, some cockle-warming storylines, and the supporting actors is cracking, too.

It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit cheesy at any other time of year, but is a great entertainment at Christmas.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

An actor appears at the outset of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the next movie straight. Could this be a new Christmas tradition?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale progresses as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is haunted by the spirits of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This South Asian reinterpretation is at least different from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s performance is wooden—a major flaw when he’s so central to everything.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

Before lunch for a channel's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “avoids Christmas.”

But after he is awarded an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) talks him into blowing the money on a holiday to Lapland.

There’s just one snag—he finds out there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to pay back the remainder.

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems

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

Driven corporate star Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is assigned to a French chateau to do a deal for a sparkling wine company. En route, she encounters a guy in a bookshop who vows to show her a festive Paris.

A commentator recently stated this is the top new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a Christmas romance with a hint of sophistication and gives the required cozy feelings.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

Young Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, in spite of the persuasion of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the reality.

The answer is somewhere, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the guidance of a group of well-known figures.

It’s gentle but sweet, and ideal viewing while anticipating Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a quarrelling American family who gather for the holidays—including fellow acclaimed actress Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer opens by name-dropping holiday staples 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 what this is, but in execution it’s really a mash-up of those aforementioned movies, 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 fortunately here’s a new entry in the crowded field of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and utterly watchable—seasonal comfort food.

It’s a tale as old as time: An American woman journeys to a picturesque cold country and ends up finding romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher