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

‘Tis the time of year to slob out on the sofa and demolish a box of festive treats in front of a good movie, a bad movie, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

Once again, a selection of fresh seasonal stories strives to join part of our holiday traditions—perhaps even earning a place alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

Therefore, in a helpful attempt to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to find the festive feeling, I binged as many recent Christmas films as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Starting, optimistically, on a good foot. This release is the sole 2025 entry on a well-known aggregator's list of the best 100 festive features of all time.

The popular band find themselves trapped in the UK after wrapping up their international trek and must make it back for Christmas. Their attempts are thwarted by an evil Santa, who sings to declare they won’t get home until they “rediscover their sibling bond.”

The banter between the squabbling siblings is enjoyable even for the casual viewer, while followers will no doubt notice lots of references as they endeavor to get back using all transportation available.

It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.

It’s not legendary, but is excellent 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 stars as a movie actor cast a traditional British stage show.

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and ageing action hero Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose representative has misled him into thinking he’s starring in prestigious English theatre.

His Aladdin co-stars tell him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he protests. You can guess their retort. Unless you’re not acquainted with traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some great jokes, some heartwarming side stories, and the ensemble is cracking, too.

It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit tacky at a different time, 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, insulting someone for the second consecutive movie. Is this a budding festive ritual?

This time, he’s a singing black cab driver who picks up Mr Sood, the newest interpretation 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 filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story develops as the miserly Mr Sood is visited 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 charismatic and Nayyar’s acting is flat—a major flaw when he’s so the main character.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

There's just enough time for a major broadcaster's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “avoids Christmas.”

But after he gets an large festive windfall at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) talks him into spending the sum on a holiday to Lapland.

There’s just one snag—he learns there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to reimburse the excess.

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

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 cosy and festive all the same.

Ambitious executive Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is sent to a country estate to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she meets a man in a literary haven who vows to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

A commentator recently declared this is the finest new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a Christmas romance with a dash of elegance and gives the required warm and fuzzy feels.

The scene with a extended debate about Die Hard is very good too.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas

Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, despite the attempts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the reality.

The secret is to be discovered, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the guidance of a group of well-known scientists and personalities.

It’s understated but charming, and good viewing while expecting Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch 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 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 what this is, but in reality it’s really a mash-up of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually finds her strength.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s taken a dip, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the saturated market of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and utterly watchable—festive fodder.

It’s a story as familiar as can be: An American woman travels to a far-off wintery locale and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher