Binge-Watching The Latest Festive Features: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

‘Tis the time of year to slob out on the sofa and consume a box of holiday pastries in front of a great film, a bad movie, or one that’s awesomely awful.

This year, a selection of latest Christmas films strives to join part of our festive viewing—potentially even joining the ranks alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

Therefore, in a helpful attempt to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to embrace the holiday mood, I watched as many recent holiday releases as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Kicking off, ideally, on a high. This is the exclusive 2025 title on a well-known aggregator's list of the greatest 100 festive features of all time.

The popular band are trapped in the UK after wrapping up their world tour and must make it back for Christmas. Their efforts are thwarted by an malevolent Father Christmas, who bursts into melody to declare they won’t get home until they “rediscover their brotherly magic.”

The back-and-forth between the bickering brothers is amusing even for the non-fan, while fans will no doubt catch lots of easter eggs as they attempt to get back using every mode of travel possible.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

It’s not a timeless masterpiece, but is great for devotees and a solid start to the day.

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

Late Morning: Tinsel Town

Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland stars as a celebrity tricked into a "panto".

“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and aging action hero Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose manager has tricked him into thinking he’s performing in prestigious English theatre.

His Aladdin fellow actors inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he insists angrily. One can imagine their reply. Except if you’re not acquainted with traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some great jokes, some heartwarming storylines, and the supporting actors is excellent, too.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

Danny Dyer appears at the beginning of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second consecutive movie. Is this a budding festive ritual?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who picks up Mr Sood, the modern take 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 filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative develops as the stingy Mr Sood is confronted by the ghosts of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This South Asian reinterpretation is at least different from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s acting is wooden—a problem when he’s so central to everything.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

Before lunch for a network's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”

But after he is awarded an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) talks him into spending the sum on a vacation to Lapland.

There’s just one snag—he learns there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to pay back the difference.

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

This is one of those holiday movies where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the setting—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same.

Ambitious executive Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is assigned to a French chateau to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. En route, she runs into a fellow in a bookshop who offers to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

A critic recently stated this is the finest new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a Christmas romance with a hint of sophistication and gives the necessary warm and fuzzy feels.

The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is particularly strong too.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

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

The secret is out there, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the expert help of a group of well-known scientists and personalities.

It’s gentle but endearing, and ideal viewing while expecting Santa to visit.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

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

Pfeiffer begins by referencing Christmas classics 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 execution it’s really a combination of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually finds her strength.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s waned in quality, but happily here’s a new offering in the saturated market of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and utterly watchable—festive fodder.

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

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher