Binge-Watching 2025's Festive Features: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights.

It is the season to lounge on the couch and consume a box of holiday pastries in front of a terrific flick, a poor film, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

As always, a selection of new holiday movies strives to join part of our holiday traditions—perhaps even earning a place alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).

Thus, in a helpful attempt to separate the winners from the losers, and to find the festive feeling, I marathoned as many new Christmas films as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Beginning, optimistically, on a high. This release is the only 2025 movie on a famous website's list of the top 100 holiday films of all time.

The Jonas Brothers find themselves stuck in the UK after finishing their global concert series and must return for Christmas. Their endeavors are hampered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who sings to announce they won’t get home until they “rekindle their sibling bond.”

The repartee between the arguing trio is enjoyable even for the uninitiated, while followers will no doubt pick up on lots of references as they endeavor to get back using all transportation available.

It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.

It’s not an all-time classic, but is great for devotees and a solid start to the day.

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

8.45am - Tinsel Town

Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland stars as a movie actor cast a pantomime.

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and older star Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose manager has tricked him into thinking he’s performing in prestigious English theatre.

His Aladdin cast-mates let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he retorts. It's easy to predict their reply. That is, unless you’re not acquainted with traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some hilarious moments, some cockle-warming side stories, and the supporting actors is excellent, too.

It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit naff at a different time, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

An actor pops up at the beginning of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second consecutive movie. Is this a new Christmas tradition?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who picks up 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 tight-fisted Mr Sood is confronted by the spirits of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This cultural adaptation is at least unique from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s performance is wooden—a significant issue when he’s so the main character.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

Before lunch for a network'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 (starring Morgana Robinson) persuades him splurging the cash on a vacation 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 devise a plan for how to return the difference.

Fun while it lasts but not lasting.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

This is one of those holiday movies where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the background—Christmas is the scene 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 assigned to a vineyard to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. During her travels, she runs into a fellow in a bookshop who promises to show her Christmas in Paris.

A critic recently declared this is the top new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a holiday love story with a dash of elegance and gives the obligatory cozy feelings.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

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

The answer is out there, and Chris sets out to find it with the assistance of a team of well-known scientists and personalities.

It’s understated but sweet, and ideal viewing while expecting Santa to visit.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a dysfunctional American family who reunite 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 stating: “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 combination of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally comes into her own.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s taken a dip, but thankfully here’s a new addition in the packed genre of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and highly entertaining—festive fodder.

It’s a tale as familiar as can be: An American woman journeys to a picturesque cold country and ends up stumbling across romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher