Marathon Viewing 2025's Christmas Films: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights.

‘Tis the season to lounge on the sofa and consume a box of holiday pastries in front of a good movie, a bad movie, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

Once again, a selection of new seasonal stories aims to become part of our seasonal watchlist—potentially even earning a place alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).

Therefore, in a helpful attempt to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to get into the holiday mood, I marathoned as many new holiday releases as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Kicking off, optimistically, on a good foot. This is the exclusive 2025 movie on a well-known aggregator's list of the greatest 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The musical trio are stuck in the UK after concluding their international trek and must get home for Christmas. Their attempts are thwarted by an malevolent Father Christmas, who sings to announce they won’t get home until they “rediscover their brotherly magic.”

The back-and-forth between the squabbling siblings is enjoyable even for the uninitiated, while followers will undoubtedly notice lots of in-jokes 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 superb for devotees and a solid start to the day.

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

Next: A Star in Panto

A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a celebrity tricked into a traditional British stage show.

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and older lead Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose manager has misled him into thinking he’s appearing in prestigious English theatre.

His Aladdin fellow actors let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he protests. One can imagine their retort. Except if you’re unfamiliar with traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some very funny lines, some heartwarming sub-plots, and the supporting actors is cracking, too.

It’s the type of film that would be a bit cheesy at a different time, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma

Danny Dyer shows up at the start of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the next movie straight. Is this a budding festive ritual?

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who encounters Mr Sood, the newest interpretation 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 classic narrative unfolds as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is haunted by the spirits of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This South Asian reinterpretation is at least unique from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s portrayal is flat—a major flaw when he’s so central to everything.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

There's just enough time for a major broadcaster's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “isn't big on Christmas.”

But after he is awarded an large festive windfall at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) persuades him blowing the money on a family trip to Lapland.

There’s just one issue—he finds out there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to reimburse the excess.

Fun while it lasts but not lasting.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems

This is one of those Christmas films where the festive trappings are in the background—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels comfortable and seasonal 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. On the way, she runs into a guy in a bookshop who vows to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

An expert recently claimed this is the best new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a holiday love story with a touch of class and gives the required cozy feelings.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, despite the efforts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the reality.

The answer is out there, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the expert help of a team of well-known figures.

It’s low-key but charming, and perfect viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a quarrelling American family who reunite for the holidays—including other Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer opens by name-dropping holiday staples 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 reality it’s really a mash-up of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually finds her strength.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s gone downhill, but thankfully here’s a new offering in the packed genre of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and highly entertaining—holiday fare.

It’s a story as well-worn: An American woman journeys to a far-off wintery locale and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher