Marathon Viewing 2025's Holiday Movies: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

It is the season to relax on the sofa and demolish a packet of holiday pastries in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

Once again, a crop of new holiday movies aims to become part of our holiday traditions—maybe even finding a spot alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).

Therefore, in a helpful attempt to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to find the festive feeling, I binged as many fresh festive movies as possible in a single day.

First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick

Kicking off, ideally, on a high. This is the sole 2025 title on a famous website's list of the top 100 festive features of all time.

The popular band find themselves stranded in the UK after concluding their world tour and must make it back for Christmas. Their endeavors are thwarted by an villainous Saint Nick, who bursts into melody to state they won’t get home until they “rekindle their sibling bond.”

The banter between the squabbling siblings is entertaining even for the casual viewer, while devotees will undoubtedly catch lots of easter eggs as they attempt to get back using all transportation available.

It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.

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

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

8.45am - Tinsel Town

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

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

His Aladdin cast-mates inform him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he retorts. It's easy to predict their retort. Except if you’re ignorant of traditional British theatre traditions.

There are some hilarious moments, some touching side stories, and the supporting actors is cracking, too.

It’s the type of film that would be a bit cheesy at a different time, but is a great entertainment at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

A familiar face pops up at the start of this film, too, insulting someone for the next movie straight. Is this a budding festive ritual?

This time, he’s a singing black cab driver who encounters Mr Sood, the modern take 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 the director of Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale progresses as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is visited 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 charismatic and Nayyar’s performance is wooden—a significant issue when he’s so the focal point.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

There's just enough time for a network's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”

But after he gets an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) persuades him splurging the cash on a holiday to Lapland.

There’s just one snag—he finds out there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to pay back the excess.

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

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.

Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a French chateau to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. En route, she runs into a guy in a bookshop who promises to show her a festive Paris.

A commentator recently declared this is the top new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a festive dalliance with a touch of class and gives the necessary cozy feelings.

The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is very good too.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, regardless of the efforts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him otherwise.

The truth is to be discovered, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the guidance of a panel of well-known figures.

It’s gentle but sweet, and perfect viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a quarrelling 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 true heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the premise, but in execution it’s really a mash-up of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last takes center stage.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s gone downhill, but thankfully here’s a new addition in the saturated market of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and highly entertaining—seasonal comfort food.

It’s a tale as familiar as can be: An American woman goes on a quest to a far-off wintery locale and ends up stumbling across romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher