Binge-Watching This Year's Festive Features: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

It is the time of year to slob out on the sofa and demolish a box of festive treats in front of a great film, a bad movie, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

Once again, a batch of fresh Christmas films strives to join part of our holiday traditions—perhaps even finding a spot alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).

Thus, in a helpful attempt to separate the winners from the losers, and to get into the holiday mood, I binged as many recent holiday releases as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Kicking off, hopefully, on a high. This release is the exclusive 2025 entry on a well-known aggregator's list of the best 100 holiday films of all time.

The musical trio are trapped in the UK after finishing their global concert series and must get home for Christmas. Their efforts are hampered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who bursts into melody to announce they won’t get home until they “find their familial spark.”

The back-and-forth between the squabbling siblings is amusing even for the uninitiated, while followers will no doubt catch lots of in-jokes as they endeavor to get back using any means of transport necessary.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who will have to sit through it.

Late Morning: Tinsel Town

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland stars as a movie actor roped into a pantomime.

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and ageing action hero Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose agent has deceived him into thinking he’s performing in renowned British drama.

His Aladdin fellow actors inform him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he protests. It's easy to predict their response. Unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some hilarious moments, some heartwarming side stories, and the supporting actors is excellent, too.

It’s the type of film that would be a bit naff at any other time of year, but is a great entertainment at Christmas.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma

An actor appears at the outset 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 latest spin 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 the director of Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story progresses as the stingy Mr Sood is visited by the spirits of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This South Asian reinterpretation is at least unique from all the others, but sadly he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s performance is lifeless—a problem when he’s so central to everything.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

There's just enough time for a channel's Christmas comedy-drama—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 (played by Morgana Robinson) convinces him splurging the cash 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 devise a plan for how to return the excess.

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems

This is one of those Christmas films where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the setting—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its main point—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same.

High-powered businesswoman Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a country estate to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. During her travels, she runs into a fellow in a literary haven who promises to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

A commentator recently declared this is the best new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a festive dalliance with a hint of sophistication 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, in spite of the persuasion of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the reality.

The secret is somewhere, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the expert help of a team of well-known scientists and personalities.

It’s gentle but sweet, and perfect viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a quarrelling American family who gather for the holidays—including other acclaimed actress Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer starts by mentioning Christmas classics like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before saying: “They need to make a movie about the real champions of the holidays—moms.”

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

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

It’s a tale as well-worn: An American woman journeys to a distant snowy land and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher