Binge-Watching The Latest Christmas Films: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

‘Tis the season to slob out on the sofa and demolish a packet of mince pies in front of a terrific flick, a poor film, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

This year, a batch of new Christmas films hopes to be part of our festive viewing—maybe even joining the ranks alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

Thus, in a helpful attempt to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to find the festive feeling, I watched as many fresh holiday releases as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Kicking off, hopefully, on a high. This film is the only 2025 entry on a popular review site's list of the top 100 holiday films of all time.

The popular band end up trapped in the UK after finishing their global concert series and must get home for Christmas. Their attempts are thwarted by an malevolent Father Christmas, who sings to announce they won’t get home until they “rediscover their sibling bond.”

The banter between the squabbling siblings is amusing even for the uninitiated, while followers will no doubt pick up on lots of easter eggs as they endeavor to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

It’s not legendary, but is superb for fans and a positive start to the day.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who will have to sit through it.

Next: A Star in Panto

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a movie actor roped into a pantomime.

“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and older lead Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose agent has tricked him into thinking he’s performing in renowned British drama.

His Aladdin cast-mates let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he retorts. One can imagine their response. That is, unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some very funny lines, some heartwarming sub-plots, and the supporting actors is brilliant, too.

It’s the type of film that would be a bit naff at another season, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

Danny Dyer shows up at the outset of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the next movie straight. Might this become a fresh holiday staple?

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 The Big Bang Theory’s Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by the director of Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative develops as the miserly Mr Sood is haunted by the apparitions of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This cultural adaptation is at least unique from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s performance is lifeless—a major flaw when he’s so the main character.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

Before lunch for a network's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “avoids Christmas.”

But after he is awarded an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) convinces him spending the sum on a holiday to Lapland.

There’s just one problem—he discovers there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to determine how to return the difference.

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

This is one of those Christmas films where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the setting—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its main point—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.

Ambitious executive Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is sent to a vineyard to secure an acquisition for a champagne business. On the way, she encounters a guy in a book store who promises to show her Christmas in Paris.

A commentator recently stated this is the finest new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a festive dalliance with a hint of sophistication and gives the obligatory warm and fuzzy feels.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

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

The answer is out there, and Chris sets out to find it with the expert help of a group of well-known experts and celebrities.

It’s low-key but endearing, and ideal viewing while expecting Santa to visit.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a quarrelling American family who come back together for the holidays—including other acclaimed actress Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer begins by referencing 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 what this is, but in execution it’s really a combination of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally comes into her own.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Evening: 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 utterly watchable—festive fodder.

It’s a story as well-worn: An American woman goes on a quest to a far-off wintery locale and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher