🔗 Share this article Devouring 2025's Christmas Films: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures. It is the season to lounge on the couch and demolish a tin of mince pies in front of a great film, a awful feature, or one that’s terrible yet terrific. As always, a crop of new holiday movies aims to become 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 noble effort to separate the winners from the losers, and to find the Christmas spirit, I binged as many fresh Christmas films as possible in a single day. 7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie Kicking off, optimistically, on a positive note. This is the exclusive 2025 movie on a famous website's list of the top 100 Christmas movies of all time. The Jonas Brothers find themselves stuck in the UK after concluding their international trek and must return for Christmas. Their endeavors are thwarted by an evil Santa, who sings to announce they won’t get home until they “rediscover their sibling bond.” The repartee between the arguing trio is amusing even for the uninitiated, while devotees will undoubtedly pick up on lots of easter eggs as they attempt to get back using all transportation available. It’s a travelogue of mishaps. It’s not an all-time classic, but is superb for devotees and a positive start to the day. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who must sit through it. 8.45am - Tinsel Town Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland stars as a movie actor cast a pantomime. “A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and aging star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose representative has deceived him into thinking he’s appearing in renowned British drama. His pantomime cast-mates let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he protests. You can guess their response. Unless you’re ignorant of traditional panto catchphrases. There are some hilarious moments, some touching sub-plots, and the ensemble is brilliant, too. It’s the type of film that would be a bit tacky at another season, but is a lot of fun at Christmas. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 10.19am - Christmas Karma A familiar face shows up at the outset of this film, too, insulting someone for the second consecutive movie. Could this be a fresh holiday staple? This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who picks up Mr Sood, the newest interpretation 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 filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale develops 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 South Asian reinterpretation is at least distinct from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s portrayal is flat—a major flaw when he’s so central to everything. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄 Noon: A BBC Special Before lunch for a major broadcaster's holiday special—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 (starring Morgana Robinson) persuades him blowing the money on a vacation to Lapland. There’s just one problem—he discovers there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to return the remainder. Fun while it lasts but not lasting. Festive score: 🎄🎄 A Classy Netflix Romance This is one of those holiday movies 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 cosy and festive all the same. Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a country estate to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she runs into a fellow in a book store who promises to show her the holidays in the City of Light. A commentator recently declared this is the finest new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a holiday love story with a hint of sophistication and gives the necessary cozy feelings. 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, despite the attempts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the reality. The truth is out there, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the assistance of a group of well-known figures. It’s gentle but charming, and good viewing while anticipating Santa to visit. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄 Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun. Michelle Pfeiffer is the head 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 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 real champions of the holidays—moms.” So that’s what this is, but in execution it’s really a jumble of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally takes center stage. Festive score: 🎄🎄 Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret The day’s waned in quality, but happily here’s a new entry in the saturated market of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and utterly watchable—seasonal comfort food. It’s a story as familiar as can be: An American woman goes on a quest to a picturesque cold country and ends up stumbling across romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
It is the season to lounge on the couch and demolish a tin of mince pies in front of a great film, a awful feature, or one that’s terrible yet terrific. As always, a crop of new holiday movies aims to become 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 noble effort to separate the winners from the losers, and to find the Christmas spirit, I binged as many fresh Christmas films as possible in a single day. 7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie Kicking off, optimistically, on a positive note. This is the exclusive 2025 movie on a famous website's list of the top 100 Christmas movies of all time. The Jonas Brothers find themselves stuck in the UK after concluding their international trek and must return for Christmas. Their endeavors are thwarted by an evil Santa, who sings to announce they won’t get home until they “rediscover their sibling bond.” The repartee between the arguing trio is amusing even for the uninitiated, while devotees will undoubtedly pick up on lots of easter eggs as they attempt to get back using all transportation available. It’s a travelogue of mishaps. It’s not an all-time classic, but is superb for devotees and a positive start to the day. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who must sit through it. 8.45am - Tinsel Town Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland stars as a movie actor cast a pantomime. “A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and aging star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose representative has deceived him into thinking he’s appearing in renowned British drama. His pantomime cast-mates let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he protests. You can guess their response. Unless you’re ignorant of traditional panto catchphrases. There are some hilarious moments, some touching sub-plots, and the ensemble is brilliant, too. It’s the type of film that would be a bit tacky at another season, but is a lot of fun at Christmas. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 10.19am - Christmas Karma A familiar face shows up at the outset of this film, too, insulting someone for the second consecutive movie. Could this be a fresh holiday staple? This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who picks up Mr Sood, the newest interpretation 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 filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale develops 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 South Asian reinterpretation is at least distinct from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s portrayal is flat—a major flaw when he’s so central to everything. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄 Noon: A BBC Special Before lunch for a major broadcaster's holiday special—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 (starring Morgana Robinson) persuades him blowing the money on a vacation to Lapland. There’s just one problem—he discovers there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to return the remainder. Fun while it lasts but not lasting. Festive score: 🎄🎄 A Classy Netflix Romance This is one of those holiday movies 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 cosy and festive all the same. Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a country estate to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she runs into a fellow in a book store who promises to show her the holidays in the City of Light. A commentator recently declared this is the finest new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a holiday love story with a hint of sophistication and gives the necessary cozy feelings. 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, despite the attempts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the reality. The truth is out there, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the assistance of a group of well-known figures. It’s gentle but charming, and good viewing while anticipating Santa to visit. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄 Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun. Michelle Pfeiffer is the head 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 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 real champions of the holidays—moms.” So that’s what this is, but in execution it’s really a jumble of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally takes center stage. Festive score: 🎄🎄 Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret The day’s waned in quality, but happily here’s a new entry in the saturated market of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and utterly watchable—seasonal comfort food. It’s a story as familiar as can be: An American woman goes on a quest to a picturesque cold country and ends up stumbling across romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher