Devouring 2025's Christmas Films: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

It is the time of year to lounge on the sofa and devour a box of holiday pastries in front of a great film, a bad movie, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

Once again, a batch of new seasonal stories hopes to be part of our holiday traditions—perhaps even joining the ranks alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).

Therefore, in a vital public service to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to get into the holiday mood, I watched as many new Christmas films as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Kicking off, optimistically, on a good foot. This is the only 2025 title on a popular review site's list of the top 100 holiday films of all time.

The popular band are stuck in the UK after concluding their international trek and must get home for Christmas. Their attempts are thwarted by an malevolent Father Christmas, who breaks into song to declare they won’t get home until they “find their brotherly magic.”

The repartee between the arguing trio is enjoyable even for the casual viewer, while followers will undoubtedly pick up on lots of references as they try to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

It’s not an all-time classic, but is superb for devotees and a positive start to the day.

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

Late Morning: Tinsel Town

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland stars as a Hollywood star cast a "panto".

“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and older star Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose agent has misled him into thinking he’s appearing in high-class London stage.

His pantomime co-stars let him know he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he protests. It's easy to predict their response. Unless you’re ignorant of traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some great jokes, some touching side stories, and the ensemble is brilliant, too.

It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit naff at a different time, but is a great entertainment at Christmas.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

A familiar face shows up at the beginning of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the next movie straight. Might this become a fresh holiday staple?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur 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 director of Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale develops as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is visited by the apparitions of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This South Asian reinterpretation is at least unique from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s acting is flat—a major flaw when he’s so central to everything.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

Before lunch for a network's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “isn't big on Christmas.”

But after he is awarded an large festive windfall at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) persuades him spending the sum on a family trip to Lapland.

There’s just one snag—he discovers there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to return the difference.

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

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

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

A commentator recently declared this is the best new Christmas film of the recent era. 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 very good too.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

Young Chris, played by Lenny Rush, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, despite the efforts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the reality.

The secret is to be discovered, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the expert help of a team of well-known experts and celebrities.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a dysfunctional American family who reunite for the holidays—including fellow acclaimed actress 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 unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the premise, but in practice it’s really a jumble of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally comes into her own.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s gone downhill, but fortunately here’s a new offering in the crowded field of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and utterly watchable—festive fodder.

It’s a tale as well-worn: An American woman travels to a distant snowy land and ends up finding romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher