Marathon Viewing 2025's Christmas Films: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights.

‘Tis the time of year to relax on the sofa and consume a tin of festive treats in front of a good movie, a awful feature, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

Once again, a selection of fresh holiday movies strives to join part of our holiday traditions—perhaps even finding a spot alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).

So, in a noble effort to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to embrace the Christmas spirit, I marathoned as many fresh festive movies as possible in a single day.

First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick

Beginning, ideally, on a high. This film is the exclusive 2025 entry on a famous website's list of the greatest 100 festive features of all time.

The musical trio find themselves trapped in the UK after concluding their world tour and must return for Christmas. Their attempts are hindered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who sings to state they won’t get home until they “rekindle their familial spark.”

The back-and-forth between the bickering brothers is enjoyable even for the non-fan, while fans will no doubt notice lots of references as they try to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

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

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

Late Morning: Tinsel Town

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland appears as a movie actor roped into a traditional British stage show.

“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and ageing action hero Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose agent has tricked him into thinking he’s appearing in high-class London stage.

His pantomime fellow actors inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he retorts. One can imagine their retort. That is, unless you’re ignorant of traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some great jokes, some heartwarming side stories, and the ensemble is brilliant, too.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

Danny Dyer shows up at the outset of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second film in a row. Is this a new Christmas tradition?

This time, he’s a singing black cab driver who collects Mr Sood, the latest spin 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 director of Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative develops as the miserly Mr Sood is visited 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 regrettably he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s performance is lifeless—a problem when he’s so central to everything.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

There's just enough time for a network's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “avoids Christmas.”

But after he receives an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) convinces him spending the sum on a family trip to Lapland.

There’s just one snag—he learns there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to determine how to return the excess.

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 setting—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same.

High-powered businesswoman Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is sent to a country estate to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. En route, she runs into a guy in a book store who vows to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

A critic recently stated this is the finest new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a holiday love story with a touch of class and gives the necessary warm and fuzzy feels.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, despite the efforts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him otherwise.

The answer is to be discovered, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the guidance of a team of well-known scientists and personalities.

It’s understated but charming, and ideal viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a dysfunctional American family who reunite for the holidays—including other Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer starts by mentioning Christmas classics like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before declaring: “They need to make a movie about the real champions of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s what this is, but in reality it’s really a mash-up of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually comes into her own.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s taken a dip, but happily here’s a new entry in the saturated market of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and utterly watchable—seasonal comfort food.

It’s a narrative as familiar as can be: An American woman travels to a picturesque cold country and ends up stumbling across romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher