🔗 Share this article Marathon Viewing The Latest Holiday Movies: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good. ‘Tis the time of year to relax on the couch and consume a box of mince pies in front of a terrific flick, a bad movie, or one that’s awesomely awful. This year, a batch of new Christmas films hopes to be part of our festive viewing—potentially even finding a spot alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start). Therefore, in a noble effort to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to get into the Christmas spirit, I marathoned as many new Christmas films as possible in a single day. First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick Kicking off, hopefully, on a high. This film is the sole 2025 title on a famous website's list of the best 100 Christmas movies of all time. The Jonas Brothers are stranded in the UK after concluding their world tour and must make it back for Christmas. Their efforts are hampered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who breaks into song to announce they won’t get home until they “rekindle their sibling bond.” The back-and-forth between the arguing trio is amusing even for the non-fan, while fans will certainly notice lots of easter eggs as they endeavor to get back using any means of transport necessary. It’s a travelogue of mishaps. It’s not legendary, but is great for devotees 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 Hollywood star cast a pantomime. “A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and aging lead Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose manager has deceived him into thinking he’s starring in renowned British drama. His pantomime cast-mates tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. It's easy to predict their response. That is, unless you’re ignorant of traditional panto catchphrases. There are some great jokes, some touching sub-plots, and the rest of the cast is excellent, too. It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit cheesy at any other time of year, but is a great entertainment at Christmas. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 10.19am - Christmas Karma Danny Dyer pops up at the outset of this film, too, insulting someone for the second film in a row. Might this become a budding festive ritual? This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who collects Mr Sood, the modern take 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 familiar story progresses as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is visited by the spirits of Christmas past, present and future, 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 acting is wooden—a problem when he’s so the focal point. Festive score: 🎄🎄 Noon: A BBC Special There's just enough time for a network's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “avoids Christmas.” But after he gets an large festive windfall at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) persuades him spending the sum on a family trip to Lapland. There’s just one problem—he finds out there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to determine how to reimburse the remainder. Enjoyable but forgettable. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems This is one of those holiday movies where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the backdrop—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same. Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a French chateau to secure an acquisition for a champagne business. During her travels, she encounters a guy in a book store who promises to show her a festive Paris. A commentator recently claimed this is the top new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a festive dalliance with a hint of sophistication and gives the required cozy feelings. The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is notable too. Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄 3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas Young Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, regardless 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 team of well-known experts and celebrities. It’s gentle but sweet, and good viewing while anticipating Santa to visit. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 A Star-Studded Family Drama Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a bickering 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 classic festive films like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before saying: “They need to make a movie about the unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.” So that’s the concept, but in execution it’s really a mash-up of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually finds her strength. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 Formulaic Fun The day’s taken a dip, but happily here’s a new offering in the packed genre of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and utterly watchable—seasonal comfort food. It’s a tale 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 time of year to relax on the couch and consume a box of mince pies in front of a terrific flick, a bad movie, or one that’s awesomely awful. This year, a batch of new Christmas films hopes to be part of our festive viewing—potentially even finding a spot alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start). Therefore, in a noble effort to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to get into the Christmas spirit, I marathoned as many new Christmas films as possible in a single day. First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick Kicking off, hopefully, on a high. This film is the sole 2025 title on a famous website's list of the best 100 Christmas movies of all time. The Jonas Brothers are stranded in the UK after concluding their world tour and must make it back for Christmas. Their efforts are hampered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who breaks into song to announce they won’t get home until they “rekindle their sibling bond.” The back-and-forth between the arguing trio is amusing even for the non-fan, while fans will certainly notice lots of easter eggs as they endeavor to get back using any means of transport necessary. It’s a travelogue of mishaps. It’s not legendary, but is great for devotees 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 Hollywood star cast a pantomime. “A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and aging lead Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose manager has deceived him into thinking he’s starring in renowned British drama. His pantomime cast-mates tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. It's easy to predict their response. That is, unless you’re ignorant of traditional panto catchphrases. There are some great jokes, some touching sub-plots, and the rest of the cast is excellent, too. It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit cheesy at any other time of year, but is a great entertainment at Christmas. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 10.19am - Christmas Karma Danny Dyer pops up at the outset of this film, too, insulting someone for the second film in a row. Might this become a budding festive ritual? This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who collects Mr Sood, the modern take 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 familiar story progresses as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is visited by the spirits of Christmas past, present and future, 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 acting is wooden—a problem when he’s so the focal point. Festive score: 🎄🎄 Noon: A BBC Special There's just enough time for a network's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “avoids Christmas.” But after he gets an large festive windfall at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) persuades him spending the sum on a family trip to Lapland. There’s just one problem—he finds out there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to determine how to reimburse the remainder. Enjoyable but forgettable. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems This is one of those holiday movies where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the backdrop—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same. Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a French chateau to secure an acquisition for a champagne business. During her travels, she encounters a guy in a book store who promises to show her a festive Paris. A commentator recently claimed this is the top new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a festive dalliance with a hint of sophistication and gives the required cozy feelings. The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is notable too. Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄 3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas Young Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, regardless 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 team of well-known experts and celebrities. It’s gentle but sweet, and good viewing while anticipating Santa to visit. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 A Star-Studded Family Drama Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a bickering 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 classic festive films like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before saying: “They need to make a movie about the unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.” So that’s the concept, but in execution it’s really a mash-up of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually finds her strength. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 Formulaic Fun The day’s taken a dip, but happily here’s a new offering in the packed genre of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and utterly watchable—seasonal comfort food. It’s a tale 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