Binge-Watching 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 box of mince pies in front of a terrific flick, a poor film, or one that’s awesomely awful.

This year, a crop of fresh Christmas films strives to join part of our festive viewing—maybe even finding a spot alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

Thus, in a noble effort to separate the winners from the losers, and to get into the festive feeling, I binged as many fresh festive movies as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Starting, ideally, on a good foot. This release is the only 2025 entry on a popular review site's list of the top 100 festive features of all time.

The Jonas Brothers end up stuck in the UK after concluding their world tour and must return for Christmas. Their endeavors are hindered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who breaks into song to declare they won’t get home until they “find their familial spark.”

The back-and-forth between the bickering brothers is amusing even for the uninitiated, while followers will undoubtedly catch lots of in-jokes as they attempt to get back using any means of transport necessary.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

It’s not a timeless masterpiece, but is excellent for devotees and a positive start to the day.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who will have to sit through it.

Next: A Star in Panto

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a celebrity roped into a traditional British stage show.

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

His Aladdin fellow actors inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he retorts. It's easy to predict their retort. Except if you’re unfamiliar with traditional British theatre traditions.

There are some hilarious moments, some touching storylines, and the ensemble is cracking, too.

It’s the kind of movie 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

A familiar face pops up at the beginning of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second film in a row. Could this be a budding festive ritual?

This time, he’s a singing black cab driver who encounters Mr Sood, the latest spin on Mr Scrooge from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Mr Sood is played by a star of Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by the filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative develops as the stingy 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 different from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s acting is lifeless—a significant issue when he’s so the focal point.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

Before lunch for a network's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “isn't big on Christmas.”

But after he gets an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) persuades him spending the sum on a family trip to Lapland.

There’s just one problem—he discovers there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to reimburse the difference.

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

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

Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a French chateau to do a deal for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she encounters a fellow in a book store who promises to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

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

The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is notable too.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas

Sixteen-year-old 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 truth.

The answer is out there, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the assistance of a panel of well-known experts and celebrities.

It’s low-key but charming, and ideal viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a bickering American family who gather for the holidays—including other Oscar nominee 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 declaring: “They need to make a movie about the unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the concept, but in execution it’s really a combination of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally comes into her own.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s taken a dip, but happily here’s a new offering in the packed genre of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and highly entertaining—seasonal comfort food.

It’s a narrative as well-worn: An American woman travels to a far-off wintery locale and ends up finding romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher