Devouring This Year's Festive Features: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.
‘Tis the season to relax on the sofa and consume a packet of mince pies in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s so bad it’s good.
This year, a selection of new seasonal stories strives to join part of our festive viewing—maybe even joining the ranks alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).
Therefore, in a helpful attempt to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to find the festive feeling, I marathoned as many fresh Christmas films as possible in a single day.
Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
Kicking off, optimistically, on a positive note. This film is the exclusive 2025 movie on a famous website's list of the best 100 Christmas movies of all time.
The popular band end up stranded in the UK after wrapping up their international trek and must make it back for Christmas. Their endeavors are hampered by an villainous Saint Nick, who breaks into song to declare they won’t get home until they “rekindle their familial spark.”
The back-and-forth between the squabbling siblings is amusing even for the uninitiated, while fans will undoubtedly pick up on lots of in-jokes as they attempt to get back using all transportation available.
It’s a travelogue of mishaps.
It’s not legendary, but is great for fans and a positive start to the day.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who must sit through it.
Next: A Star in Panto
A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland appears as a Hollywood star cast a pantomime.
“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and older action hero Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose representative has tricked him into thinking he’s starring in renowned British drama.
His Aladdin cast-mates let him know he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he retorts. You can guess their retort. That is, unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional British theatre traditions.
There are some hilarious moments, some heartwarming sub-plots, and the supporting actors is excellent, too.
It’s the type of film that would be a bit naff at a different time, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma
A familiar face pops up at the beginning of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second consecutive movie. Might this become a fresh holiday staple?
This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who picks up 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 director of Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story progresses as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is visited by the ghosts 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 sadly he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s acting is lifeless—a significant issue when he’s so the focal point.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
12.04pm - Stuffed
Before lunch for a channel's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “avoids Christmas.”
But after he receives an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) persuades him blowing the money on a vacation to Lapland.
There’s just one snag—he finds out there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to pay back the remainder.
Fun while it lasts but not lasting.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
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 core purpose—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.
Driven corporate star 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 guy in a literary haven who vows to show her the holidays in the City of Light.
A commentator recently claimed this is the top 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 necessary warm and fuzzy feels.
The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is very good too.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄
Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas
Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, despite the efforts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the reality.
The secret is out there, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the expert help of a team of well-known scientists and personalities.
It’s low-key but endearing, and good viewing while anticipating 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 fellow acclaimed actress 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 declaring: “They need to make a movie about the real champions of the holidays—moms.”
So that’s the concept, but in reality it’s really a mash-up of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually finds her strength.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
Formulaic Fun
The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the crowded field of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and highly entertaining—holiday fare.
It’s a tale as old as time: An American woman goes on a quest to a far-off wintery locale and ends up stumbling across romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
