Marathon Viewing The Latest Christmas Films: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights.

It is the season to relax on the couch and consume a tin of mince pies in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

As always, a selection of fresh Christmas films hopes to be part of our seasonal watchlist—maybe even finding a spot alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).

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 positive note. This release is the exclusive 2025 entry on a popular review site's list of the best 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The musical trio are stranded in the UK after finishing their global concert series and must return for Christmas. Their efforts are hindered by an evil Santa, who breaks into song to announce they won’t get home until they “find their brotherly magic.”

The repartee between the squabbling siblings is entertaining even for the casual viewer, while devotees will certainly pick up on lots of easter eggs as they try to get back using every mode of travel possible.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

It’s not a timeless masterpiece, but is superb for devotees and a positive start to the day.

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

8.45am - Tinsel Town

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland stars as a Hollywood star roped into a traditional British stage show.

“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and aging star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose representative has tricked him into thinking he’s performing in high-class London stage.

His pantomime fellow actors inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he retorts. One can imagine their reply. Except if you’re unfamiliar with traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some hilarious moments, some cockle-warming storylines, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too.

It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit cheesy at another season, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma

A familiar face pops up at the start of this film, too, insulting someone for the next movie straight. Could this be a new Christmas tradition?

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story progresses as the miserly Mr Sood is haunted by the spirits 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 compelling and Nayyar’s portrayal is wooden—a major flaw when he’s so central to everything.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

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

But after he gets an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) talks him into spending the sum on a holiday to Lapland.

There’s just one issue—he finds out there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to determine how to reimburse the difference.

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the backdrop—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its main point—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same.

Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a country estate to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she encounters a fellow in a bookshop who offers to show her Christmas in Paris.

An expert recently declared this is the top new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a Christmas romance with a hint of sophistication and gives the necessary heartwarming sensation.

The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is very good too.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas

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

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

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a quarrelling American family who come back together for the holidays—including fellow Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer begins by referencing 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 true heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the concept, but in reality it’s really a combination of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally comes into her own.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the saturated market of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and strangely compelling—holiday fare.

It’s a story as familiar as can be: An American woman travels to a picturesque cold country and ends up finding romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher