🔗 Share this article Marathon Viewing 2025's Christmas Films: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good. ‘Tis the season to slob out on the couch and demolish a packet of festive treats in front of a terrific flick, a poor film, or one that’s awesomely awful. This year, a batch of new holiday movies strives to join part of our seasonal watchlist—maybe even joining the ranks alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start). So, in a helpful attempt to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to find the Christmas spirit, I watched as many fresh holiday releases as possible in a single day. First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick Kicking off, optimistically, on a good foot. This film is the only 2025 movie on a well-known aggregator's list of the top 100 Christmas movies of all time. The popular band are trapped in the UK after wrapping up their global concert series and must make it back for Christmas. Their efforts are thwarted by an evil Santa, who sings to announce they won’t get home until they “find their familial spark.” The repartee between the arguing trio is entertaining even for the casual viewer, while fans will certainly pick up on lots of in-jokes as they endeavor to get back using every mode of travel possible. It’s private planes, trains and automobiles. It’s not legendary, but is great for devotees and a solid start to the day. Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who must sit through it. 8.45am - Tinsel Town Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a Hollywood star cast a "panto". “A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and aging lead Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose agent has misled him into thinking he’s appearing in high-class London stage. His pantomime fellow actors let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he protests. You can guess their response. Unless you’re not acquainted with traditional panto catchphrases. There are some hilarious moments, some cockle-warming storylines, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too. It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit cheesy at another season, but is a great entertainment at Christmas. Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 10.19am - Christmas Karma A familiar face shows up at the outset of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second consecutive movie. Is this a fresh holiday staple? This time, he’s a singing black cab driver who picks up Mr Sood, the modern take 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 progresses as the stingy Mr Sood is haunted by the ghosts 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 regrettably he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s portrayal is wooden—a significant issue when he’s so the focal point. Festive score: 🎄🎄 12.04pm - Stuffed There's just enough time for a channel's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “doesn’t really do Christmas.” But after he is awarded an large festive windfall at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) persuades him blowing the money on a vacation to Lapland. There’s just one snag—he learns there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to reimburse the difference. Fun while it lasts but not lasting. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄 1.12pm - Champagne Problems This is one of those Christmas films where the decorations and snow are in the background—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same. Driven corporate star Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is sent to a French chateau to secure an acquisition for a champagne business. En route, she meets a guy in a literary haven who promises to show her a festive Paris. A critic recently claimed this is the best new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a Christmas romance with a touch of class and gives the obligatory cozy feelings. The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is notable too. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄 Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas Sixteen-year-old 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 truth. The secret is out there, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the expert help of a group of well-known experts and celebrities. It’s understated but charming, and good viewing while expecting Santa to visit. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄 A Star-Studded Family Drama Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch 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 classic festive films like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before declaring: “They need to make a movie about the real champions of the holidays—moms.” So that’s the premise, but in practice it’s really a jumble of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last comes into her own. Festive score: 🎄🎄 Formulaic Fun The day’s gone downhill, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the packed genre of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and highly entertaining—festive fodder. It’s a story as familiar as can be: 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
‘Tis the season to slob out on the couch and demolish a packet of festive treats in front of a terrific flick, a poor film, or one that’s awesomely awful. This year, a batch of new holiday movies strives to join part of our seasonal watchlist—maybe even joining the ranks alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start). So, in a helpful attempt to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to find the Christmas spirit, I watched as many fresh holiday releases as possible in a single day. First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick Kicking off, optimistically, on a good foot. This film is the only 2025 movie on a well-known aggregator's list of the top 100 Christmas movies of all time. The popular band are trapped in the UK after wrapping up their global concert series and must make it back for Christmas. Their efforts are thwarted by an evil Santa, who sings to announce they won’t get home until they “find their familial spark.” The repartee between the arguing trio is entertaining even for the casual viewer, while fans will certainly pick up on lots of in-jokes as they endeavor to get back using every mode of travel possible. It’s private planes, trains and automobiles. It’s not legendary, but is great for devotees and a solid start to the day. Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who must sit through it. 8.45am - Tinsel Town Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a Hollywood star cast a "panto". “A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and aging lead Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose agent has misled him into thinking he’s appearing in high-class London stage. His pantomime fellow actors let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he protests. You can guess their response. Unless you’re not acquainted with traditional panto catchphrases. There are some hilarious moments, some cockle-warming storylines, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too. It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit cheesy at another season, but is a great entertainment at Christmas. Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 10.19am - Christmas Karma A familiar face shows up at the outset of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second consecutive movie. Is this a fresh holiday staple? This time, he’s a singing black cab driver who picks up Mr Sood, the modern take 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 progresses as the stingy Mr Sood is haunted by the ghosts 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 regrettably he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s portrayal is wooden—a significant issue when he’s so the focal point. Festive score: 🎄🎄 12.04pm - Stuffed There's just enough time for a channel's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “doesn’t really do Christmas.” But after he is awarded an large festive windfall at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) persuades him blowing the money on a vacation to Lapland. There’s just one snag—he learns there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to reimburse the difference. Fun while it lasts but not lasting. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄 1.12pm - Champagne Problems This is one of those Christmas films where the decorations and snow are in the background—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same. Driven corporate star Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is sent to a French chateau to secure an acquisition for a champagne business. En route, she meets a guy in a literary haven who promises to show her a festive Paris. A critic recently claimed this is the best new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a Christmas romance with a touch of class and gives the obligatory cozy feelings. The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is notable too. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄 Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas Sixteen-year-old 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 truth. The secret is out there, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the expert help of a group of well-known experts and celebrities. It’s understated but charming, and good viewing while expecting Santa to visit. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄 A Star-Studded Family Drama Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch 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 classic festive films like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before declaring: “They need to make a movie about the real champions of the holidays—moms.” So that’s the premise, but in practice it’s really a jumble of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last comes into her own. Festive score: 🎄🎄 Formulaic Fun The day’s gone downhill, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the packed genre of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and highly entertaining—festive fodder. It’s a story as familiar as can be: 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