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

‘Tis the season to relax on the couch and demolish a tin of mince pies in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

Once again, a selection of latest Christmas films hopes to be part of our seasonal watchlist—potentially even joining the ranks alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

Therefore, in a vital public service to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to embrace the Christmas spirit, I watched as many fresh festive movies as possible in a single day.

First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick

Beginning, hopefully, on a positive note. This release is the exclusive 2025 entry on a popular review site's list of the best 100 festive features of all time.

The popular band end up stranded in the UK after finishing their global concert series and must return for Christmas. Their efforts are thwarted by an villainous Saint Nick, who sings to declare they won’t get home until they “rediscover their sibling bond.”

The back-and-forth between the arguing trio is amusing even for the uninitiated, while devotees will undoubtedly notice lots of easter eggs as they try to get back using every mode of travel possible.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who will have to sit through it.

8.45am - Tinsel Town

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

“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and older lead Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose agent has tricked him into thinking he’s appearing in prestigious English theatre.

His pantomime co-stars let him know he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he protests. You can guess their response. Unless you’re ignorant of traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some very funny lines, some heartwarming storylines, and the supporting actors is excellent, too.

It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit naff at a different time, but is a great entertainment at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

A New Spin on Scrooge

A familiar face shows up at the outset of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the next movie straight. Is this a new Christmas tradition?

This time, he’s a singing black cab driver who encounters Mr Sood, the latest spin 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 familiar story unfolds as the miserly Mr Sood is haunted by the spirits 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 regrettably he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s portrayal is flat—a major flaw when he’s so the main character.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

There's just enough time for a major broadcaster's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “isn't big on Christmas.”

But after he gets an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) convinces him splurging the cash on a family trip to Lapland.

There’s just one problem—he learns there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to pay back the remainder.

Fun while it lasts but not lasting.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the backdrop—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 dispatched to a French chateau to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she encounters a fellow in a bookshop who promises to show her Christmas in Paris.

An expert recently stated this is the best new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a holiday love story with a touch of class and gives the necessary cozy feelings.

The scene with a extended debate about Die Hard is very good too.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, regardless of the attempts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the reality.

The secret is out there, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the assistance of a panel of well-known experts and celebrities.

It’s low-key but endearing, and good viewing while expecting Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.

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

So that’s the premise, but in practice it’s really a jumble of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last takes center stage.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s gone downhill, but thankfully here’s a new offering in the saturated market of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and highly entertaining—holiday fare.

It’s a narrative as familiar as can be: An American woman journeys to a distant snowy land and ends up stumbling across romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher