Binge-Watching 2025's Holiday Movies: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

‘Tis the time of year to slob out on the sofa and demolish a tin of holiday pastries in front of a good movie, a awful feature, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

This year, a crop of new seasonal stories hopes to be part of our festive viewing—potentially even finding a spot alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

Thus, in a vital public service to separate the winners from the losers, and to find the Christmas spirit, I watched as many recent Christmas films as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Kicking off, hopefully, on a high. This is the only 2025 movie on a well-known aggregator's list of the top 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The musical trio end up stranded in the UK after concluding their world tour and must get home for Christmas. Their efforts are hindered by an villainous Saint Nick, who bursts into melody to declare they won’t get home until they “rediscover their brotherly magic.”

The back-and-forth between the arguing trio is amusing even for the non-fan, while fans will no doubt catch lots of easter eggs as they endeavor to get back using any means of transport necessary.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

It’s not legendary, but is great for fans and a positive start to the day.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who are obliged to sit through it.

Next: A Star in Panto

Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland appears as a celebrity tricked into a pantomime.

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and ageing star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose agent has tricked him into thinking he’s starring in high-class London stage.

His Aladdin co-stars tell him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he retorts. It's easy to predict their retort. That is, unless you’re not acquainted with traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some hilarious moments, some cockle-warming sub-plots, and the ensemble is excellent, too.

It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit naff at another season, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma

Danny Dyer pops up at the beginning of this film, too, insulting someone for the next movie straight. Is this a fresh holiday staple?

This time, he’s a singing black cab driver who encounters Mr Sood, the modern take 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative progresses as the stingy Mr Sood is haunted 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 compelling and Nayyar’s performance is wooden—a significant issue when he’s so the main character.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

Before lunch for a network's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”

But after he receives an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) talks him into spending the sum on a vacation to Lapland.

There’s just one issue—he discovers there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to return 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 setting of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels cosy and festive all the same.

High-powered businesswoman Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a country estate to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she runs into a man in a bookshop who vows to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

A critic recently claimed this is the top new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a Christmas romance with a hint of sophistication and gives the necessary warm and fuzzy feels.

The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is notable too.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

Young Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, in spite of the attempts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the reality.

The answer is to be discovered, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the guidance of a panel of well-known experts and celebrities.

It’s gentle but endearing, and perfect viewing while anticipating Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

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

Pfeiffer begins by referencing holiday staples 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 practice it’s really a jumble of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually comes into her own.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s taken a dip, but thankfully here’s a new addition in the saturated market of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and highly entertaining—festive fodder.

It’s a story as well-worn: An American woman travels to a picturesque cold country and ends up stumbling across romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher