Devouring This Year's Holiday Movies: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

It is the season to slob out on the couch and consume a tin of festive treats in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

As always, a selection of fresh seasonal stories aims to become part of our holiday traditions—perhaps even joining the ranks alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).

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

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Starting, hopefully, on a positive note. This release is the only 2025 title on a popular review site's list of the best 100 holiday films of all time.

The musical trio are stuck in the UK after finishing their world tour and must get home for Christmas. Their endeavors are hindered by an villainous Saint Nick, who sings to state they won’t get home until they “rediscover their brotherly magic.”

The repartee between the bickering brothers is amusing even for the non-fan, while devotees will certainly notice lots of references 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 great for fans and a good start to the day.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their relatives who will have to sit through it.

Next: A Star in Panto

A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland stars as a Hollywood star roped into a "panto".

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

His Aladdin cast-mates let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he retorts. You can guess their retort. Except if you’re unfamiliar with traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some great jokes, some cockle-warming sub-plots, 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 great entertainment at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

An actor pops up at the beginning of this film, too, insulting someone for the next movie straight. Is this a fresh holiday staple?

This time, he’s a singing black cab driver 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative unfolds as the stingy Mr Sood is haunted by the spirits of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This South Asian reinterpretation is at least unique from all the others, but sadly he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s performance is wooden—a significant issue when he’s so the focal point.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

Before lunch for a channel's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “avoids Christmas.”

But after he gets an large festive windfall at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) talks him into blowing the money on a vacation to Lapland.

There’s just one issue—he learns there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to determine how to pay back the difference.

Fun while it lasts but not lasting.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems

This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the background—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 (played by Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a French chateau to do a deal for a champagne business. En route, she runs into a man in a literary haven who promises to show her Christmas in Paris.

An expert recently stated this is the finest new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a holiday love story with a touch of class and gives the required heartwarming sensation.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas

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

The answer is out there, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the expert help of a group of well-known figures.

It’s gentle but sweet, and good viewing while anticipating Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

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

Pfeiffer begins by referencing holiday staples like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before declaring: “They need to make a movie about the real champions of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s what this is, but in execution it’s really a mash-up of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally takes center stage.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s gone downhill, but happily here’s a new addition in the packed genre of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and highly entertaining—holiday fare.

It’s a story as familiar as can be: An American woman travels to a far-off wintery locale and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher