Devouring This Year's Christmas Films: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

It is the season to lounge on the sofa and devour a box of mince pies in front of a terrific flick, a awful feature, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

This year, a crop of fresh seasonal stories aims to become part of our seasonal watchlist—maybe even joining the ranks alongside timeless staples 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 recent Christmas films as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Kicking off, ideally, on a good foot. This release is the sole 2025 movie on a popular review site's list of the best 100 holiday films of all time.

The musical trio are stranded in the UK after concluding their international trek and must make it back for Christmas. Their attempts are thwarted by an malevolent Father Christmas, who sings to state they won’t get home until they “find their brotherly magic.”

The repartee between the arguing trio is enjoyable even for the uninitiated, while followers will no doubt pick up on lots of easter eggs as they endeavor 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 superb for devotees and a solid start to the day.

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

Late Morning: Tinsel Town

Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland stars as a Hollywood star cast a "panto".

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and aging action hero Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose agent has misled him into thinking he’s starring in high-class London stage.

His pantomime fellow actors inform him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he insists angrily. It's easy to predict their response. Except if you’re not acquainted with traditional British theatre traditions.

There are some very funny lines, some touching side stories, and the rest of the cast is cracking, too.

It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit tacky at another season, but is a great entertainment at Christmas.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

Danny Dyer appears at the outset of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the second consecutive movie. Could this be a budding festive ritual?

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who picks up Mr Sood, the latest spin 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 the filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story progresses as the tight-fisted 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 compelling and Nayyar’s performance is flat—a significant issue when he’s so the main character.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

There's just enough time for a channel's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “avoids Christmas.”

But after he is awarded an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) talks him into spending the sum on a family trip 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 devise a plan for how to pay back the excess.

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

This is one of those Christmas films where the decorations 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.

Driven corporate star Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is assigned to a vineyard to secure an acquisition for a champagne business. En route, she meets a man in a book store who promises to show her a festive Paris.

A critic recently declared this is the finest 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 warm and fuzzy feels.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas

Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, regardless of the persuasion of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him otherwise.

The secret is somewhere, and Chris sets out to find it with the expert help of a panel of well-known experts and celebrities.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a bickering American family who reunite for the holidays—including fellow acclaimed actress 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 premise, but in reality it’s really a jumble of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally takes center stage.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the saturated market of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and utterly watchable—festive fodder.

It’s a narrative as familiar as can be: An American woman goes on a quest to a far-off wintery locale and ends up stumbling across romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher