Devouring The Latest Christmas Films: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.
‘Tis the time of year to slob out on the sofa and consume a packet of mince pies in front of a terrific flick, a poor film, or one that’s awesomely awful.
This year, a selection of latest holiday movies hopes to be part of our festive viewing—potentially even earning a place alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).
Thus, in a noble effort to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to find the festive feeling, I binged as many new festive movies as possible in a single day.
7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
Beginning, optimistically, on a positive note. This film is the sole 2025 entry on a famous website's list of the greatest 100 festive features of all time.
The musical trio find themselves stranded in the UK after concluding their international trek and must return for Christmas. Their efforts are hampered by an villainous Saint Nick, who bursts into melody to state they won’t get home until they “rekindle their familial spark.”
The repartee between the arguing trio is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while devotees will certainly pick up on lots of easter eggs as they attempt 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 excellent for fans and a solid start to the day.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who are obliged to sit through it.
Late Morning: Tinsel Town
Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland appears as a celebrity cast a "panto".
“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and aging lead Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose agent has misled him into thinking he’s performing in high-class London stage.
His Aladdin fellow actors inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. One can imagine their response. Except if you’re ignorant of traditional stage call-and-response.
There are some very funny lines, some heartwarming sub-plots, and the rest of the cast 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
An actor pops up at the outset of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the second film in a row. Could this be a fresh holiday staple?
This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who collects Mr Sood, the latest spin 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 well-known tale progresses as the stingy Mr Sood is visited by the apparitions of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.
This South Asian reinterpretation is at least distinct from all the others, but sadly he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s performance is flat—a problem when he’s so the main character.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
Lunchtime: Stuffed
There’s time for a network's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “avoids Christmas.”
But after he is awarded an large festive windfall at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) talks him into splurging the cash on a holiday to Lapland.
There’s just one problem—he finds out there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to pay back the difference.
Fun while it lasts but not lasting.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄
1.12pm - Champagne Problems
This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings 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.
Ambitious executive Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a country estate to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. En route, she meets a fellow in a bookshop who vows to show her the holidays in the City of Light.
A commentator recently claimed this is the best new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a festive dalliance with a hint of sophistication and gives the obligatory heartwarming sensation.
The scene with a extended debate about Die Hard is notable too.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄
A Charming Quest
Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, regardless of the attempts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the reality.
The truth is somewhere, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the assistance of a group of well-known figures.
It’s low-key but sweet, and ideal viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄
4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.
Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a bickering American family who gather 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 stating: “They need to make a movie about the real champions of the holidays—moms.”
So that’s the concept, but in practice it’s really a combination of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally finds her strength.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret
The day’s taken a dip, but thankfully here’s a new offering in the packed genre of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and strangely compelling—seasonal comfort food.
It’s a story as familiar as can be: An American woman travels to a distant snowy land and ends up finding romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
