Devouring This Year's Festive Features: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

It is the season to lounge on the couch and consume a packet of festive treats in front of a good movie, a poor film, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

Once again, a selection of new seasonal stories hopes to be part of our holiday traditions—maybe even finding a spot alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).

So, in a helpful attempt to separate the winners from the losers, and to get into the Christmas spirit, I marathoned as many fresh Christmas films as possible in a single day.

First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick

Kicking off, ideally, on a high. This release is the exclusive 2025 entry on a popular review site's list of the greatest 100 festive features of all time.

The Jonas Brothers end up trapped in the UK after wrapping up their international trek and must return for Christmas. Their endeavors are hindered by an villainous Saint Nick, who sings to declare they won’t get home until they “rediscover their sibling bond.”

The banter between the squabbling siblings is amusing even for the non-fan, while fans will undoubtedly pick up on lots of easter eggs as they try to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

It’s not legendary, but is excellent for fans and a good start to the day.

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

Next: A Star in Panto

A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland appears as a movie actor roped into a pantomime.

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and older lead Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose agent has misled him into thinking he’s starring in renowned British drama.

His pantomime cast-mates let him know he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he protests. One can imagine their response. Unless you’re not acquainted with traditional British theatre traditions.

There are some great jokes, some touching sub-plots, and the ensemble is brilliant, too.

It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit naff at any other time of year, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

A New Spin on Scrooge

A familiar face shows 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 a star of Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by the director of Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale unfolds 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 Indian Scrooge is at least different from all the others, but sadly he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s acting is wooden—a major flaw when he’s so central to everything.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

Before lunch for a channel's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “avoids Christmas.”

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

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

Fun while it lasts but not lasting.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems

This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the background—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 (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a French chateau to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she encounters a man in a book store who vows to show her a festive Paris.

A commentator recently stated this is the best new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a Christmas romance with a dash of elegance and gives the required warm and fuzzy feels.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

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

The answer is out there, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the expert help of a panel of well-known scientists and personalities.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a bickering 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 Christmas classics like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before saying: “They need to make a movie about the unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s what this is, but in practice it’s really a jumble of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally finds her strength.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s gone downhill, but thankfully here’s a new addition in the crowded field of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and strangely compelling—seasonal comfort food.

It’s a narrative as old as time: An American woman travels to a far-off wintery locale and ends up stumbling across romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher