🔗 Share this article Devouring This Year's Christmas Films: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good. ‘Tis the time of year to relax on the sofa and consume a box of mince pies in front of a good movie, a poor film, or one that’s terrible yet terrific. This year, a batch of fresh seasonal stories strives to join part of our seasonal watchlist—potentially even earning a place alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start). Therefore, in a noble effort to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to find the holiday mood, I marathoned as many recent festive movies as possible in a single day. 7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie Beginning, hopefully, on a positive note. This is the sole 2025 title on a well-known aggregator's list of the top 100 holiday films of all time. The popular band are stuck in the UK after finishing their global concert series and must make it back for Christmas. Their efforts are thwarted by an villainous Saint Nick, who sings to declare they won’t get home until they “find their sibling bond.” The repartee between the squabbling siblings is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while devotees will certainly catch lots of in-jokes as they endeavor to get back using all transportation available. It’s a travelogue of mishaps. It’s not an all-time classic, but is excellent for devotees and a positive start to the day. Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who are obliged to sit through it. Late Morning: Tinsel Town A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a Hollywood star roped into a pantomime. “A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and older action hero Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose manager has misled him into thinking he’s performing in prestigious English theatre. His pantomime fellow actors inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he retorts. You can guess their retort. Unless you’re not acquainted with traditional panto catchphrases. There are some very funny lines, some touching storylines, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too. It’s the type of film that would be a bit tacky at any other time of year, 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. Could this be a fresh holiday staple? This time, he’s a singing black cab driver who picks up 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative unfolds as the stingy Mr Sood is visited by the apparitions of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George. This cultural adaptation is at least different from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s performance is flat—a problem when he’s so the focal point. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄 Lunchtime: Stuffed There's just enough time for a network's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “doesn’t really do Christmas.” But after he gets an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) persuades him splurging the cash on a holiday to Lapland. There’s just one snag—he finds out there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to pay back the difference. Fun while it lasts but not lasting. Festive score: 🎄🎄 1.12pm - Champagne Problems This is one of those Christmas films where the festive trappings are in the setting—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same. Ambitious executive Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a country estate to do a deal for a champagne business. During her travels, she encounters a man in a literary haven who promises to show her Christmas in Paris. An expert recently stated this is the best new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a Christmas romance with a dash of elegance and gives the necessary heartwarming sensation. The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is particularly strong too. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, despite the persuasion of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him otherwise. The answer is somewhere, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the guidance of a group of well-known figures. It’s gentle but charming, and ideal viewing while waiting for Santa to visit. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 A Star-Studded Family Drama Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a dysfunctional American family who come back together for the holidays—including other 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 stating: “They need to make a movie about the unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.” So that’s what this is, but in practice it’s really a combination of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last finds her strength. Festive score: 🎄🎄 Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new addition in the crowded field of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and strangely compelling—seasonal comfort food. It’s a story as familiar as can be: An American woman journeys to a distant snowy land and ends up stumbling across romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
‘Tis the time of year to relax on the sofa and consume a box of mince pies in front of a good movie, a poor film, or one that’s terrible yet terrific. This year, a batch of fresh seasonal stories strives to join part of our seasonal watchlist—potentially even earning a place alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start). Therefore, in a noble effort to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to find the holiday mood, I marathoned as many recent festive movies as possible in a single day. 7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie Beginning, hopefully, on a positive note. This is the sole 2025 title on a well-known aggregator's list of the top 100 holiday films of all time. The popular band are stuck in the UK after finishing their global concert series and must make it back for Christmas. Their efforts are thwarted by an villainous Saint Nick, who sings to declare they won’t get home until they “find their sibling bond.” The repartee between the squabbling siblings is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while devotees will certainly catch lots of in-jokes as they endeavor to get back using all transportation available. It’s a travelogue of mishaps. It’s not an all-time classic, but is excellent for devotees and a positive start to the day. Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who are obliged to sit through it. Late Morning: Tinsel Town A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a Hollywood star roped into a pantomime. “A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and older action hero Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose manager has misled him into thinking he’s performing in prestigious English theatre. His pantomime fellow actors inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he retorts. You can guess their retort. Unless you’re not acquainted with traditional panto catchphrases. There are some very funny lines, some touching storylines, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too. It’s the type of film that would be a bit tacky at any other time of year, 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. Could this be a fresh holiday staple? This time, he’s a singing black cab driver who picks up 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative unfolds as the stingy Mr Sood is visited by the apparitions of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George. This cultural adaptation is at least different from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s performance is flat—a problem when he’s so the focal point. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄 Lunchtime: Stuffed There's just enough time for a network's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “doesn’t really do Christmas.” But after he gets an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) persuades him splurging the cash on a holiday to Lapland. There’s just one snag—he finds out there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to pay back the difference. Fun while it lasts but not lasting. Festive score: 🎄🎄 1.12pm - Champagne Problems This is one of those Christmas films where the festive trappings are in the setting—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same. Ambitious executive Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a country estate to do a deal for a champagne business. During her travels, she encounters a man in a literary haven who promises to show her Christmas in Paris. An expert recently stated this is the best new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a Christmas romance with a dash of elegance and gives the necessary heartwarming sensation. The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is particularly strong too. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, despite the persuasion of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him otherwise. The answer is somewhere, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the guidance of a group of well-known figures. It’s gentle but charming, and ideal viewing while waiting for Santa to visit. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 A Star-Studded Family Drama Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a dysfunctional American family who come back together for the holidays—including other 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 stating: “They need to make a movie about the unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.” So that’s what this is, but in practice it’s really a combination of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last finds her strength. Festive score: 🎄🎄 Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new addition in the crowded field of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and strangely compelling—seasonal comfort food. It’s a story as familiar as can be: An American woman journeys to a distant snowy land and ends up stumbling across romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher