Marathon Viewing This Year's Festive Features: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

‘Tis the season to lounge on the couch and consume a box of festive treats in front of a terrific flick, a awful feature, or one that’s awesomely awful.

As always, a selection of new Christmas films hopes to be part of our festive viewing—maybe even finding a spot alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).

Therefore, in a vital public service to separate the winners from the losers, and to get into the Christmas spirit, I binged as many new holiday releases as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Beginning, hopefully, on a high. This is the exclusive 2025 movie on a well-known aggregator's list of the top 100 festive features of all time.

The popular band end up stranded in the UK after concluding their world tour and must make it back for Christmas. Their attempts are thwarted by an malevolent Father Christmas, who bursts into melody 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 uninitiated, while followers will no doubt notice lots of in-jokes as they attempt to get back using every mode of travel possible.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who must sit through it.

8.45am - Tinsel Town

A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland stars as a celebrity cast a pantomime.

“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and older star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose manager has misled him into thinking he’s performing in high-class London stage.

His Aladdin fellow actors inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. You can guess their reply. Unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some hilarious moments, some heartwarming storylines, and the ensemble is brilliant, too.

It’s the type of film that would be a bit cheesy at a different time, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

An actor 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 crooning chauffeur who picks up 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story progresses as the stingy 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 unique from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s acting 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 holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “isn't big on Christmas.”

But after he gets an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) convinces him blowing the money on a family trip to Lapland.

There’s just one issue—he finds out there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to return the difference.

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems

This is one of those holiday movies where the decorations and snow are in the setting—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.

High-powered businesswoman Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is assigned to a vineyard to secure an acquisition for a champagne business. During her travels, she encounters a man in a bookshop who vows to show her a festive Paris.

A commentator recently stated this is the top new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a holiday love story with a hint of sophistication and gives the necessary 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, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, despite the persuasion of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him otherwise.

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

It’s low-key but charming, and perfect viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother 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 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 the premise, but in practice it’s really a mash-up of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually takes center stage.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s gone downhill, but fortunately here’s a new entry in the crowded field of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and strangely compelling—seasonal comfort food.

It’s a tale as well-worn: An American woman travels to a picturesque cold country and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher