Marathon Viewing The Latest Festive Features: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

‘Tis the time of year to relax on the sofa and consume a tin of festive treats in front of a good movie, a awful feature, or one that’s awesomely awful.

This year, a batch of new holiday movies hopes to be part of our seasonal watchlist—potentially even joining the ranks alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).

So, in a helpful attempt to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to get into the holiday mood, I watched as many fresh festive movies as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Starting, ideally, on a high. This is the exclusive 2025 movie on a famous website's list of the top 100 festive features of all time.

The musical trio find themselves stranded in the UK after wrapping up their world tour and must return for Christmas. Their efforts are hindered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who sings to announce they won’t get home until they “rediscover their sibling bond.”

The repartee between the arguing trio is amusing even for the non-fan, while devotees will undoubtedly pick up on lots of easter eggs as they attempt to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

It’s not an all-time classic, but is excellent for fans and a good start to the day.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who must sit through it.

Late Morning: Tinsel Town

A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland stars as a Hollywood star tricked into a traditional British stage show.

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and aging action hero Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose representative has tricked him into thinking he’s starring in prestigious English theatre.

His pantomime fellow actors tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he protests. It's easy to predict their response. Except if you’re ignorant of traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some very funny lines, some touching storylines, and the rest of the cast 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.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

A New Spin on Scrooge

Danny Dyer appears at the outset of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the second film in a row. Could this be a new Christmas tradition?

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 the filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale unfolds as the stingy Mr Sood is haunted by the spirits of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This Indian Scrooge is at least unique from all the others, but sadly he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s performance is flat—a problem when he’s so the focal point.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

There’s time for a network's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”

But after he is awarded an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) talks him into spending the sum on a family trip to Lapland.

There’s just one snag—he finds out there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to pay back the excess.

Fun while it lasts but not lasting.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

This is one of those Christmas films where the festive trappings are in the setting—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.

High-powered businesswoman Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a French chateau to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she meets a fellow in a literary haven who offers to show her Christmas in Paris.

An expert recently declared this is the finest new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a Christmas romance with a dash of elegance and gives the required heartwarming sensation.

The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is notable too.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas

Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, regardless of the attempts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the truth.

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

It’s gentle but endearing, and good viewing while anticipating Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch 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 holiday staples 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 the concept, but in reality it’s really a mash-up of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually takes center stage.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s taken a dip, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the crowded field of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and utterly watchable—holiday fare.

It’s a tale as old as time: An American woman journeys to a distant snowy land and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher