Devouring The Latest Festive Features: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights.

It is the time of year to slob out on the couch and demolish a packet of holiday pastries in front of a terrific flick, a poor film, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

Once again, a batch of fresh Christmas films strives to join 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).

So, in a helpful attempt to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to find the holiday mood, I watched as many fresh festive movies as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Starting, ideally, on a positive note. This film is the exclusive 2025 title on a famous website's list of the greatest 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The musical trio find themselves stranded in the UK after concluding their global concert series and must return for Christmas. Their efforts are hampered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who sings to declare they won’t get home until they “rekindle their sibling bond.”

The banter between the arguing trio is enjoyable even for the casual viewer, while devotees will certainly pick up on lots of in-jokes as they try to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

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 loved ones who must sit through it.

Late Morning: Tinsel Town

A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland stars as a celebrity roped into a traditional British stage show.

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and ageing action hero Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose agent has tricked him into thinking he’s appearing in high-class London stage.

His pantomime cast-mates inform him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he retorts. One can imagine their reply. Except if you’re ignorant of traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some hilarious moments, some heartwarming storylines, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too.

It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit naff at a different time, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

A New Spin on Scrooge

An actor shows up at the start of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second consecutive movie. Could this be a budding festive ritual?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who encounters 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale develops as the miserly Mr Sood is visited 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 different from all the others, but sadly he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s performance is wooden—a significant issue when he’s so the main character.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

There’s time for a network's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “isn't big on Christmas.”

But after he gets an large festive windfall 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 mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to determine how to pay back the excess.

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

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

High-powered businesswoman Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a vineyard to secure an acquisition for a champagne business. On the way, she runs into a man in a book store who promises to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

A commentator recently claimed this is the finest new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a festive dalliance with a dash of elegance and gives the obligatory warm and fuzzy feels.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas

Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, regardless of the persuasion of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the truth.

The truth is out there, and Chris sets out to find it with the guidance of a panel of well-known figures.

It’s low-key but sweet, and good viewing while anticipating Santa to visit.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

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

Pfeiffer begins by referencing 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 the concept, but in practice it’s really a jumble of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally comes into her own.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new offering in the packed genre of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and utterly watchable—festive fodder.

It’s a narrative as old as time: An American woman goes on a quest to a distant snowy land and ends up finding romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher