Devouring 2025's Festive Features: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

‘Tis the time of year to slob out on the sofa and demolish a packet of festive treats in front of a good movie, a awful feature, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

Once again, a selection of latest seasonal stories hopes to be part of our holiday traditions—maybe even finding a spot alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

Therefore, in a noble effort to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to get into the Christmas spirit, I watched as many new Christmas films as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Beginning, optimistically, on a high. This is the only 2025 title on a well-known aggregator's list of the top 100 holiday films of all time.

The popular band end up stuck in the UK after concluding their international trek and must return for Christmas. Their attempts are hampered by an evil Santa, who bursts into melody to state they won’t get home until they “rekindle their familial spark.”

The banter between the arguing trio is entertaining even for the non-fan, while followers will certainly catch lots of in-jokes as they attempt to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

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

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

8.45am - Tinsel Town

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland stars as a movie actor cast a traditional British stage show.

“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and aging lead Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose manager has misled him into thinking he’s starring in renowned British drama.

His Aladdin co-stars let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he insists angrily. It's easy to predict their retort. Unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional British theatre traditions.

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

It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit naff at another season, but is a great entertainment at Christmas.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

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

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who collects Mr Sood, the modern take on Mr Scrooge from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Mr Sood is played by a star of Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative unfolds as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is haunted by the spirits of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This Indian Scrooge is at least different from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s portrayal is wooden—a significant issue when he’s so central to everything.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

There’s time for a major broadcaster's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”

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

There’s just one snag—he learns there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to determine how to reimburse the difference.

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems

This is one of those holiday movies where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the background—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its main point—but it feels cosy and festive all the same.

Ambitious executive Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is sent to a vineyard to do a deal for a champagne business. During her travels, she meets a man in a literary haven who promises to show her a festive Paris.

A commentator recently declared this is the top new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a festive dalliance with a dash of elegance and gives the obligatory heartwarming sensation.

The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is particularly strong too.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas

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

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

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a quarrelling American family who come back together for the holidays—including fellow acclaimed actress Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer begins by referencing holiday staples 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: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s waned in quality, but fortunately here’s a new addition in the packed genre of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and highly entertaining—seasonal comfort food.

It’s a story as well-worn: An American woman goes on a quest to a distant snowy land and ends up stumbling across romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher