Binge-Watching The Latest Festive Features: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

‘Tis the season to slob out on the sofa and devour a box of mince pies in front of a good movie, a awful feature, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

Once again, a batch of latest holiday movies 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 (no arguments).

Thus, in a noble effort to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to embrace the Christmas spirit, I watched as many new Christmas films as possible in a single day.

First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick

Starting, optimistically, on a high. This is the only 2025 entry on a famous website's list of the greatest 100 festive features of all time.

The musical trio are stranded in the UK after finishing their world tour and must make it back for Christmas. Their endeavors are thwarted by an evil Santa, who bursts into melody to announce they won’t get home until they “rediscover their familial spark.”

The repartee between the arguing trio is amusing even for the casual viewer, while followers will no doubt notice lots of in-jokes as they attempt to get back using every mode of travel possible.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

It’s not legendary, but is superb for devotees and a good start to the day.

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

8.45am - Tinsel Town

A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland stars as a movie actor tricked into a pantomime.

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and older star Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose manager has misled him into thinking he’s starring in prestigious English theatre.

His Aladdin fellow actors tell him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he insists angrily. It's easy to predict their retort. That is, unless you’re ignorant of traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some hilarious moments, some touching storylines, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too.

It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit cheesy at another season, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

An actor shows up at the start of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the second film in a row. Might this become a fresh holiday staple?

This time, he’s a singing black cab driver 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative unfolds as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is confronted by the apparitions 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 regrettably he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s acting is wooden—a major flaw when he’s so the focal point.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

There's just enough time for a major broadcaster's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”

But after he is awarded an large festive windfall at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) talks him into spending the sum on a vacation to Lapland.

There’s just one snag—he discovers there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to reimburse the remainder.

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the backdrop—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels cosy and festive all the same.

High-powered businesswoman Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is sent to a vineyard to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. During her travels, she encounters a fellow in a bookshop who promises to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

A critic recently claimed this is the top new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a Christmas romance with a hint of sophistication and gives the obligatory cozy feelings.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas

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

The truth is somewhere, and Chris sets out to find it with the guidance of a team of well-known experts and celebrities.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a bickering American family who come back together for the holidays—including other acclaimed actress Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer starts by mentioning 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 unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the premise, but in practice it’s really a combination of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually finds her strength.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s gone downhill, but fortunately here’s a new addition in the packed genre of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and strangely compelling—holiday fare.

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

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher