Devouring This Year's Holiday Movies: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights.
It is the time of year to slob out on the couch and demolish a tin of holiday pastries in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s awesomely awful.
As always, a selection of latest holiday movies strives to join part of our festive viewing—maybe even joining the ranks alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).
Thus, in a noble effort to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to embrace the holiday mood, I watched as many fresh holiday releases as possible in a single day.
Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
Beginning, ideally, on a good foot. This release is the exclusive 2025 title on a famous website's list of the greatest 100 holiday films of all time.
The popular band are stuck in the UK after wrapping up their international trek and must return for Christmas. Their attempts are hindered by an evil Santa, who bursts into melody to state they won’t get home until they “find their familial spark.”
The back-and-forth between the bickering brothers is enjoyable even for the casual viewer, while fans will undoubtedly catch lots of easter eggs as they attempt to get back using any means of transport necessary.
It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.
It’s not an all-time classic, but is excellent for fans and a good start to the day.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who must sit through it.
8.45am - Tinsel Town
Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland appears as a celebrity roped into a "panto".
“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and ageing action hero Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose representative has tricked him into thinking he’s performing in renowned British drama.
His pantomime co-stars let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. One can imagine their retort. Except if you’re not acquainted with traditional stage call-and-response.
There are some hilarious moments, some heartwarming storylines, and the rest of the cast is excellent, too.
It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit naff at a different time, but is a great entertainment at Christmas.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
10.19am - Christmas Karma
Danny Dyer shows up at the beginning of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the next movie straight. Might this become a new Christmas tradition?
This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who encounters 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative unfolds as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is visited by the apparitions of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.
This cultural adaptation is at least distinct from all the others, but sadly he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s portrayal is lifeless—a major flaw when he’s so central to everything.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
Noon: A BBC Special
There's just enough time for a network's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “isn't big on Christmas.”
But after he is awarded an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) persuades him spending the sum on a family trip 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 determine how to pay back the excess.
Enjoyable but forgettable.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
Early Afternoon: 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 core purpose—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same.
Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a vineyard to do a deal for a champagne business. During her travels, she meets a guy in a literary haven who offers to show her Christmas in Paris.
A critic recently stated this is the finest new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a Christmas romance with a touch of class and gives the obligatory warm and fuzzy feels.
The scene with a extended debate about Die Hard is very good too.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄
A Charming Quest
Sixteen-year-old 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 the reality.
The answer is to be discovered, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the guidance of a group of well-known experts and celebrities.
It’s understated but charming, and good viewing while expecting Santa to visit.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄
Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.
Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a quarrelling American family who reunite for the holidays—including fellow Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.
Pfeiffer opens by name-dropping classic festive films like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before saying: “They need to make a movie about the real champions of the holidays—moms.”
So that’s the premise, but in reality it’s really a combination of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last takes center stage.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret
The day’s waned in quality, but happily here’s a new entry in the saturated market of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and strangely compelling—holiday fare.
It’s a tale as old as time: An American woman travels to a distant snowy land and ends up stumbling across romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher