Marathon Viewing 2025's Christmas Films: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.
It is the season to relax on the sofa and devour a tin of holiday pastries in front of a good movie, a bad movie, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.
Once again, a crop of latest seasonal stories hopes to be part of our seasonal watchlist—maybe even earning a place alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).
So, in a noble effort to separate the winners from the losers, and to embrace the Christmas spirit, I watched as many fresh holiday releases as possible in a single day.
7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
Starting, hopefully, on a high. This is the only 2025 entry on a well-known aggregator's list of the best 100 holiday films of all time.
The popular band are trapped in the UK after wrapping up their global concert series and must return for Christmas. Their efforts are hampered by an villainous Saint Nick, who sings to state they won’t get home until they “rediscover their familial spark.”
The banter between the squabbling siblings is enjoyable even for the non-fan, while fans will no doubt catch lots of easter eggs as they attempt to get back using all transportation available.
It’s a journey of epic proportions.
It’s not legendary, but is excellent for devotees and a positive start to the day.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their relatives who are obliged to sit through it.
8.45am - Tinsel Town
Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a Hollywood star cast a pantomime.
“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and older lead Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose agent has misled him into thinking he’s performing in high-class London stage.
His pantomime co-stars inform him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he protests. You can guess their reply. Unless you’re not acquainted with traditional stage call-and-response.
There are some very funny lines, some heartwarming sub-plots, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too.
It’s the type of film that would be a bit naff at a different time, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma
An actor pops up at the beginning of this film, too, insulting someone for the second film in a row. Is this a new Christmas tradition?
This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who picks up Mr Sood, the modern take 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 familiar story develops as the stingy Mr Sood is confronted by the ghosts of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.
This South Asian reinterpretation is at least unique from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s portrayal is wooden—a problem when he’s so central to everything.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
Noon: A BBC Special
Before lunch for a channel's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “avoids Christmas.”
But after he is awarded an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) talks him into splurging the cash on a vacation to Lapland.
There’s just one snag—he finds out there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to pay back the remainder.
Fun while it lasts but not lasting.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
1.12pm - Champagne Problems
This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the backdrop—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.
Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a French chateau to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. During her travels, she encounters a fellow in a bookshop who promises to show her a festive Paris.
A commentator recently stated this is the finest new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a festive dalliance with a hint of sophistication and gives the required heartwarming sensation.
The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is notable too.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄
Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas
Young Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, regardless of the attempts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the reality.
The answer is out there, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the assistance of a team of well-known experts and celebrities.
It’s understated but sweet, and good viewing while expecting 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 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 saying: “They need to make a movie about the true heroes of the holidays—moms.”
So that’s what this is, but in reality it’s really a mash-up of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally comes into her own.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret
The day’s taken a dip, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the saturated market of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and strangely compelling—holiday fare.
It’s a story as well-worn: An American woman travels to a picturesque cold country and ends up discovering romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
