Devouring The Latest Festive Features: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

‘Tis the season to slob out on the couch and consume a packet of mince pies in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

Once again, a selection of fresh holiday movies aims to become part of our seasonal watchlist—perhaps even finding a spot alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).

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

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Beginning, ideally, on a high. This release is the exclusive 2025 movie on a famous website's list of the best 100 festive features of all time.

The musical trio are stuck in the UK after finishing their world tour and must get home for Christmas. Their endeavors are hindered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who sings to announce they won’t get home until they “find their sibling bond.”

The repartee between the arguing trio is enjoyable even for the casual viewer, while fans will certainly notice lots of easter eggs as they try to get back using any means of transport necessary.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

It’s not legendary, but is excellent 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 appears as a celebrity tricked into a "panto".

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and ageing star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose representative has tricked him into thinking he’s performing in high-class London stage.

His Aladdin co-stars inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. One can imagine their response. Unless you’re not acquainted with traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some hilarious moments, some touching side stories, and the supporting actors is brilliant, too.

It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit naff at another season, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

An actor appears at the start 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 an actor from Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by the filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale progresses as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is haunted by the ghosts of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This cultural adaptation is at least unique from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s performance is flat—a problem when he’s so the focal point.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

There's just enough time for a network's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”

But after he gets an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) convinces him spending the sum on a vacation to Lapland.

There’s just one snag—he discovers there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to reimburse the excess.

Enjoyable but forgettable.

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 main point—but it feels cosy and festive all the same.

High-powered businesswoman Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is assigned to a country estate to secure an acquisition for a champagne business. En route, she meets a man in a literary haven who offers to show her Christmas in Paris.

An expert recently declared this is the best new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a holiday love story with a touch of class and gives the obligatory cozy feelings.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas

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

The truth is out there, and Chris sets out to find it with the assistance of a group of well-known experts and celebrities.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a bickering American family who gather for the holidays—including fellow Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer opens by name-dropping 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 unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the premise, but in execution it’s really a jumble of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually takes center stage.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s taken a dip, but happily here’s a new entry in the crowded field of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and strangely compelling—festive fodder.

It’s a story as old as time: An American woman travels to a picturesque cold country and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher