Devouring The Latest Christmas Films: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights.

It is the time of year to lounge on the couch and consume a box of mince pies in front of a good movie, a poor film, or one that’s awesomely awful.

As always, a batch of new seasonal stories aims to become part of our seasonal watchlist—perhaps even earning a place alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).

So, in a noble effort to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to find the festive feeling, I binged as many new festive movies as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Beginning, hopefully, on a good foot. This film is the exclusive 2025 title on a popular review site's list of the top 100 holiday films of all time.

The musical trio are stranded in the UK after concluding their international trek and must get home for Christmas. Their endeavors are hindered by an villainous Saint Nick, who breaks into song to announce they won’t get home until they “rediscover their familial spark.”

The banter between the arguing trio is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while followers will no doubt pick up on lots of references as they endeavor to get back using all transportation available.

It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.

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

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

Next: A Star in Panto

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a celebrity tricked into a pantomime.

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

His pantomime co-stars let him know he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he retorts. It's easy to predict their retort. That is, unless you’re ignorant of traditional British theatre traditions.

There are some great jokes, some touching side stories, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too.

It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit tacky at another season, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma

A familiar face appears at the outset of this film, too, insulting someone for the second film in a row. Could this be a new Christmas tradition?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who collects 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 progresses 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 unique from all the others, but sadly he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s portrayal is wooden—a major flaw when he’s so central to everything.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

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

But after he gets an large festive windfall at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) talks him into splurging the cash on a vacation to Lapland.

There’s just one snag—he finds out there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to return the excess.

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

This is one of those holiday movies where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the setting—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same.

High-powered businesswoman Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a country estate to do a deal for a sparkling wine company. En route, she encounters a fellow in a literary haven who offers to show her Christmas in Paris.

A critic recently claimed this is the best new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a festive dalliance with a touch of class and gives the obligatory heartwarming sensation.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas

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

The truth is somewhere, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the expert help of a group of well-known experts and celebrities.

It’s gentle but sweet, and ideal viewing while anticipating Santa to visit.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

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 declaring: “They need to make a movie about the unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the premise, but in practice it’s really a jumble of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally comes into her own.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s taken a dip, but thankfully here’s a new offering in the crowded field of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and highly entertaining—holiday fare.

It’s a story as familiar as can be: An American woman journeys to a far-off wintery locale and ends up stumbling across romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher