Binge-Watching The Latest Festive Features: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights.

It is the season to slob out 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.

Once again, a crop of latest holiday movies hopes to be part of our holiday traditions—maybe even earning a place alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).

Thus, in a vital public service to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to embrace the Christmas spirit, I watched as many recent Christmas films as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Kicking off, optimistically, on a positive note. This release is the only 2025 title on a well-known aggregator's list of the greatest 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The popular band find themselves trapped in the UK after wrapping up their world tour and must return for Christmas. Their endeavors are thwarted by an evil Santa, who bursts into melody to declare they won’t get home until they “rekindle their familial spark.”

The back-and-forth between the bickering brothers is enjoyable even for the uninitiated, while fans will no doubt notice lots of references as they endeavor to get back using every mode of travel possible.

It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.

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

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

8.45am - Tinsel Town

A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland appears as a Hollywood star cast a pantomime.

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and aging star Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose representative has misled him into thinking he’s performing in renowned British drama.

His pantomime cast-mates tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. You can guess their retort. Except if you’re ignorant of traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some great jokes, some touching side stories, and the ensemble is excellent, too.

It’s the type of film that would be a bit cheesy at any other time of year, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

Danny Dyer appears at the outset of this film, too, insulting someone for the next movie straight. Is this a new Christmas tradition?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who encounters Mr Sood, the newest interpretation 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 well-known tale progresses as the miserly 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 different from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s performance is wooden—a significant issue when he’s so central to everything.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

Before lunch for a major broadcaster's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “avoids Christmas.”

But after he receives an large festive windfall 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 error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to reimburse the excess.

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems

This is one of those Christmas films where the festive trappings are in the backdrop—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels cosy and festive all the same.

Ambitious executive Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is assigned to a vineyard to negotiate a purchase for a champagne business. During her travels, she meets a fellow in a literary haven who offers to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

A critic recently claimed this is the top new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a festive dalliance with a touch of class and gives the necessary warm and fuzzy feels.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas

Sixteen-year-old 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 truth.

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

It’s understated but charming, and good viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother 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 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 true heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s what this is, but in execution it’s really a combination of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually comes into her own.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the saturated market of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and utterly watchable—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