Devouring This Year's Holiday Movies: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights.

‘Tis the season to lounge on the couch and demolish a tin of holiday pastries in front of a good movie, a poor film, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

This year, a crop of new holiday movies aims to become part of our festive viewing—potentially even earning a place alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

So, in a vital public service to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to embrace the festive feeling, I marathoned as many fresh holiday releases as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Starting, optimistically, on a high. This is the exclusive 2025 title on a popular review site's list of the top 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The musical trio find themselves stranded in the UK after finishing their world tour and must return for Christmas. Their attempts are hampered by an evil Santa, who bursts into melody to declare they won’t get home until they “rediscover their brotherly magic.”

The banter between the arguing trio is amusing even for the non-fan, while fans will undoubtedly notice lots of easter eggs as they try to get back using every mode of travel possible.

It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.

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

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

Late Morning: Tinsel Town

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a Hollywood star tricked into a traditional British stage show.

“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and ageing lead Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose manager has deceived him into thinking he’s appearing in prestigious English theatre.

His pantomime cast-mates inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he protests. You can guess their response. Except if you’re unfamiliar with traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some great jokes, some heartwarming sub-plots, and the rest of the cast is cracking, too.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

A New Spin on Scrooge

Danny Dyer pops up at the beginning of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the second consecutive movie. Is this a budding festive ritual?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who encounters Mr Sood, the latest spin 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale progresses as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is haunted by the ghosts 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 compelling and Nayyar’s performance is wooden—a significant issue when he’s so the main character.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

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

But after he gets an large festive windfall at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) talks him into splurging the cash on a vacation to Lapland.

There’s just one problem—he finds out there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to return the remainder.

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

This is one of those holiday movies where the decorations and snow are in the setting—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels cosy and festive all the same.

High-powered businesswoman Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is sent to a vineyard to do a deal for a champagne business. During her travels, she runs into a fellow in a bookshop who vows to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

An expert recently declared this is the finest new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a holiday love story with a dash of elegance and gives the necessary heartwarming sensation.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, regardless of the attempts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him otherwise.

The secret is to be discovered, and Chris sets out to find it with the expert help of a panel of well-known figures.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a dysfunctional American family who reunite for the holidays—including other 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 stating: “They need to make a movie about the real champions of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s what this is, but in practice it’s really a mash-up of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually takes center stage.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s gone downhill, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the saturated market of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and utterly watchable—holiday fare.

It’s a story as well-worn: An American woman travels to a picturesque cold country and ends up stumbling across romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher