Marathon Viewing 2025's Holiday Movies: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

‘Tis the season to lounge on the couch and demolish a box of mince pies in front of a great film, a awful feature, or one that’s awesomely awful.

As always, a crop of new Christmas films strives to join part of our seasonal watchlist—maybe even joining the ranks alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

Thus, in a helpful attempt to separate the winners from the losers, and to embrace the Christmas spirit, I binged as many fresh Christmas films as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Beginning, hopefully, on a high. This is the sole 2025 movie on a famous website's list of the top 100 holiday films of all time.

The musical trio end up stuck in the UK after finishing their world tour and must get home for Christmas. Their attempts are hampered by an villainous Saint Nick, who bursts into melody to announce they won’t get home until they “rediscover their familial spark.”

The banter between the arguing trio is enjoyable even for the casual viewer, while devotees will undoubtedly catch lots of references as they endeavor to get back using any means of transport necessary.

It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.

It’s not legendary, but is great for fans and a good 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 stars as a celebrity tricked into a "panto".

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and ageing star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose representative has tricked him into thinking he’s performing in prestigious English theatre.

His pantomime co-stars tell him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he protests. You can guess their retort. That is, unless you’re ignorant of traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some great jokes, some touching side stories, and the ensemble is brilliant, too.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

A New Spin on Scrooge

Danny Dyer appears at the start of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the second film in a row. Could this be a budding festive ritual?

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who collects Mr Sood, the latest spin 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 familiar story progresses as the stingy Mr Sood is visited by the spirits of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, 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 compelling and Nayyar’s acting is wooden—a significant issue when he’s so the main character.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

There's just enough time for a channel's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “isn't big on Christmas.”

But after he receives an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) persuades him splurging the cash on a family trip to Lapland.

There’s just one issue—he finds out there was an mistake 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 Christmas films where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the background—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.

Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a French chateau to negotiate a purchase for a champagne business. During her travels, she encounters a man in a bookshop who promises to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

An expert recently declared this is the top new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a holiday love story with a dash of elegance and gives the obligatory cozy feelings.

The scene with a extended debate about Die Hard is particularly strong too.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas

Young Chris, played by Lenny Rush, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, in spite of the persuasion of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the reality.

The answer 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 sweet, and perfect viewing while expecting Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a dysfunctional American family who gather for the holidays—including other acclaimed actress 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 stating: “They need to make a movie about the true heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s what this is, but in practice it’s really a jumble of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually finds her strength.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s gone downhill, but happily here’s a new entry in the saturated market of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and utterly watchable—holiday fare.

It’s a narrative as familiar as can be: An American woman journeys to a picturesque cold country and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher