Marathon Viewing 2025's Holiday Movies: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

‘Tis the season to relax on the couch and consume a box of holiday pastries in front of a good movie, a poor film, or one that’s awesomely awful.

This year, a crop of latest holiday movies strives to join part of our holiday traditions—potentially even earning a place alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

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

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Starting, ideally, on a good foot. This release is the sole 2025 title on a famous website's list of the greatest 100 holiday films of all time.

The Jonas Brothers are trapped in the UK after finishing their world tour and must get home for Christmas. Their attempts are hampered by an evil Santa, who sings to announce they won’t get home until they “find their brotherly magic.”

The banter between the squabbling siblings is enjoyable even for the casual viewer, while devotees will undoubtedly pick up on 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 legendary, but is superb for fans and a good start to the day.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who must sit through it.

Next: A Star in Panto

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

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and aging action hero Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose representative has deceived him into thinking he’s starring in renowned British drama.

His pantomime cast-mates let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he retorts. One can imagine their response. That is, unless you’re not acquainted with traditional panto catchphrases.

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

It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit cheesy at another season, but is a great entertainment at Christmas.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma

A familiar face shows up at the beginning of this film, too, insulting someone for the second consecutive movie. Might this become 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 The Big Bang Theory’s Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by the filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story develops as the miserly Mr Sood is visited by the ghosts of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This cultural adaptation is at least different from all the others, but sadly he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s portrayal is lifeless—a significant issue when he’s so the main character.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

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

But after he gets an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) convinces him spending the sum on a family trip to Lapland.

There’s just one snag—he discovers there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to return the remainder.

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the background—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its main point—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.

Ambitious executive Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a French chateau to do a deal for a sparkling wine company. En route, she meets a guy in a literary haven who promises to show her Christmas in Paris.

An expert recently stated this is the top new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a festive dalliance with a touch of class and gives the obligatory warm and fuzzy feels.

The scene with a extended debate about Die Hard is notable too.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas

Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, despite the persuasion of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the truth.

The answer is to be discovered, and Chris sets out to find it with the assistance of a team of well-known figures.

It’s understated but charming, and perfect viewing while expecting Santa to visit.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a quarrelling American family who come back together for the holidays—including other 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 stating: “They need to make a movie about the real champions of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s what this is, but in practice it’s really a jumble of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually takes center stage.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s taken a dip, but fortunately here’s a new offering in the crowded field of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and highly entertaining—holiday fare.

It’s a story 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