🔗 Share this article Marathon Viewing 2025's Festive Features: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights. ‘Tis the season to slob out on the sofa and demolish a packet of holiday pastries in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s so bad it’s good. This year, a selection of new Christmas films strives to join part of our holiday traditions—maybe even earning a place alongside enduring classics 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 festive feeling, I binged as many recent festive movies as possible in a single day. Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie Kicking off, hopefully, on a good foot. This is the sole 2025 movie on a popular review site's list of the greatest 100 Christmas movies of all time. The Jonas Brothers find themselves trapped in the UK after wrapping up their international trek and must make it back for Christmas. Their endeavors are hampered by an villainous Saint Nick, who breaks into song to state they won’t get home until they “rekindle their brotherly magic.” The back-and-forth between the bickering brothers is entertaining even for the casual viewer, while devotees will certainly pick up on lots of in-jokes as they try 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 great for devotees and a good start to the day. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who must sit through it. Next: A Star in Panto Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a Hollywood star tricked into a "panto". “A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and ageing action hero Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose manager has misled him into thinking he’s performing in renowned British drama. His pantomime cast-mates tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he retorts. You can guess their reply. Except if you’re not acquainted with traditional British theatre traditions. There are some great jokes, some cockle-warming side stories, and the supporting actors is brilliant, too. It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit cheesy at another season, but is a great entertainment at Christmas. Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 10.19am - Christmas Karma Danny Dyer shows up at the start of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the second film in a row. Is this a fresh holiday staple? This time, he’s a singing black cab driver who picks up 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 filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative unfolds as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is haunted by the apparitions of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George. This Indian Scrooge is at least distinct from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s acting is flat—a problem when he’s so the focal point. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 12.04pm - Stuffed Before lunch for a major broadcaster's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “doesn’t really do Christmas.” But after he gets an large festive windfall at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) persuades him splurging the cash on a family trip to Lapland. There’s just one problem—he learns there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to pay back the difference. Pleasant yet unmemorable. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄 Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems This is one of those Christmas films where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the backdrop—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same. High-powered businesswoman Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a French chateau to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she meets a man in a book store who offers to show her Christmas in Paris. A commentator recently stated this is the best new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a holiday love story with a dash of elegance and gives the obligatory heartwarming sensation. The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is notable too. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas Young Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, regardless of the efforts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the truth. The secret is out there, and Chris sets out to find it with the guidance of a panel of well-known experts and celebrities. It’s understated but endearing, and ideal viewing while anticipating Santa to visit. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄 A Star-Studded Family Drama Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a dysfunctional American family who gather for the holidays—including fellow Oscar nominee 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 declaring: “They need to make a movie about the true heroes of the holidays—moms.” So that’s the concept, but in reality it’s really a combination of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last finds her strength. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret The day’s waned in quality, but fortunately here’s a new addition in the crowded field of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and strangely compelling—festive fodder. It’s a story as old as time: An American woman travels to a far-off wintery locale and ends up discovering romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
‘Tis the season to slob out on the sofa and demolish a packet of holiday pastries in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s so bad it’s good. This year, a selection of new Christmas films strives to join part of our holiday traditions—maybe even earning a place alongside enduring classics 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 festive feeling, I binged as many recent festive movies as possible in a single day. Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie Kicking off, hopefully, on a good foot. This is the sole 2025 movie on a popular review site's list of the greatest 100 Christmas movies of all time. The Jonas Brothers find themselves trapped in the UK after wrapping up their international trek and must make it back for Christmas. Their endeavors are hampered by an villainous Saint Nick, who breaks into song to state they won’t get home until they “rekindle their brotherly magic.” The back-and-forth between the bickering brothers is entertaining even for the casual viewer, while devotees will certainly pick up on lots of in-jokes as they try 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 great for devotees and a good start to the day. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who must sit through it. Next: A Star in Panto Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a Hollywood star tricked into a "panto". “A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and ageing action hero Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose manager has misled him into thinking he’s performing in renowned British drama. His pantomime cast-mates tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he retorts. You can guess their reply. Except if you’re not acquainted with traditional British theatre traditions. There are some great jokes, some cockle-warming side stories, and the supporting actors is brilliant, too. It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit cheesy at another season, but is a great entertainment at Christmas. Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 10.19am - Christmas Karma Danny Dyer shows up at the start of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the second film in a row. Is this a fresh holiday staple? This time, he’s a singing black cab driver who picks up 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 filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative unfolds as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is haunted by the apparitions of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George. This Indian Scrooge is at least distinct from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s acting is flat—a problem when he’s so the focal point. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 12.04pm - Stuffed Before lunch for a major broadcaster's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “doesn’t really do Christmas.” But after he gets an large festive windfall at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) persuades him splurging the cash on a family trip to Lapland. There’s just one problem—he learns there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to pay back the difference. Pleasant yet unmemorable. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄 Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems This is one of those Christmas films where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the backdrop—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same. High-powered businesswoman Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a French chateau to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she meets a man in a book store who offers to show her Christmas in Paris. A commentator recently stated this is the best new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a holiday love story with a dash of elegance and gives the obligatory heartwarming sensation. The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is notable too. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas Young Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, regardless of the efforts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the truth. The secret is out there, and Chris sets out to find it with the guidance of a panel of well-known experts and celebrities. It’s understated but endearing, and ideal viewing while anticipating Santa to visit. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄 A Star-Studded Family Drama Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a dysfunctional American family who gather for the holidays—including fellow Oscar nominee 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 declaring: “They need to make a movie about the true heroes of the holidays—moms.” So that’s the concept, but in reality it’s really a combination of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last finds her strength. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret The day’s waned in quality, but fortunately here’s a new addition in the crowded field of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and strangely compelling—festive fodder. It’s a story as old as time: An American woman travels to a far-off wintery locale and ends up discovering romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher