Devouring The Latest Christmas Films: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

It is the time of year to slob out on the sofa and devour a packet of mince pies in front of a terrific flick, a bad movie, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

Once again, a crop of latest seasonal stories hopes to be part of our seasonal watchlist—maybe even joining the ranks alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).

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

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Starting, ideally, on a high. This is the exclusive 2025 entry on a popular review site's list of the top 100 holiday films of all time.

The popular band are stuck in the UK after finishing their world tour and must make it back for Christmas. Their attempts are hindered by an villainous Saint Nick, who sings to announce they won’t get home until they “rekindle their brotherly magic.”

The back-and-forth between the squabbling siblings is amusing even for the non-fan, while fans will no doubt catch lots of in-jokes as they endeavor to get back using any means of transport necessary.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

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

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

Next: A Star in Panto

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a celebrity roped into a traditional British stage show.

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and older action hero Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose agent has misled him into thinking he’s appearing in high-class London stage.

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

There are some great jokes, some cockle-warming sub-plots, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too.

It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit naff at any other time of year, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma

An actor pops up at the start of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second film in a row. Is this a fresh holiday staple?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who encounters Mr Sood, the latest spin 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 filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale develops as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is confronted by the spirits of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This Indian Scrooge is at least distinct from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s performance is wooden—a major flaw when he’s so central to everything.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

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 large festive windfall at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) persuades him splurging the cash on a holiday to Lapland.

There’s just one issue—he discovers there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to pay back the difference.

Fun while it lasts but not lasting.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

This is one of those Christmas films where the decorations and snow are in the backdrop—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same.

Ambitious executive Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a French chateau to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. During her travels, she runs into a fellow in a bookshop who vows to show her a festive Paris.

A critic recently claimed this is the top new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a Christmas romance with a hint of sophistication and gives the required warm and fuzzy feels.

The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is very good too.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas

Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, regardless of the attempts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the reality.

The secret is to be discovered, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the assistance of a group of well-known scientists and personalities.

It’s gentle 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 come back together 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 declaring: “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 mash-up of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last comes into her own.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s gone downhill, but fortunately here’s a new offering in the saturated market of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and utterly watchable—festive fodder.

It’s a tale as familiar as can be: An American woman goes on a quest to a distant snowy land and ends up finding romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher