Devouring 2025's Festive Features: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

‘Tis the season to relax on the couch and consume a packet of holiday pastries in front of a terrific flick, a awful feature, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

Once again, a crop of new seasonal stories aims to become part of our seasonal watchlist—potentially even finding a spot alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).

Thus, in a vital public service to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to embrace the festive feeling, I marathoned as many recent festive movies as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Starting, hopefully, on a positive note. This release is the exclusive 2025 title on a famous website's list of the best 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The Jonas Brothers find themselves stranded in the UK after finishing their global concert series and must make it back for Christmas. Their efforts are hindered by an evil Santa, who bursts into melody to announce they won’t get home until they “rediscover their brotherly magic.”

The banter between the arguing trio is amusing even for the uninitiated, while fans will no doubt catch lots of in-jokes as they endeavor to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who will have to sit through it.

Next: A Star in Panto

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a Hollywood star roped into a pantomime.

“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and older star Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose representative has deceived him into thinking he’s appearing in prestigious English theatre.

His Aladdin co-stars let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. You can guess their retort. Except if you’re unfamiliar with traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some hilarious moments, some cockle-warming storylines, and the supporting actors is cracking, too.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma

An actor appears at the beginning of this film, too, insulting someone for the second film in a row. Might this become 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 an actor from Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by the filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative develops as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is haunted by the apparitions 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 regrettably he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s portrayal is flat—a problem when he’s so central to everything.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

Before lunch for a major broadcaster's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”

But after he receives an large festive windfall at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) persuades him splurging the cash on a family trip to Lapland.

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

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

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

High-powered businesswoman Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is assigned to a country estate to do a deal for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she encounters a man in a book store who offers to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

A commentator recently stated this is the top new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a festive dalliance with a touch of class and gives the necessary warm and fuzzy feels.

The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is very good too.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

3.29pm - 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 truth.

The answer is to be discovered, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the assistance of a group of well-known experts and celebrities.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a bickering American family who gather for the holidays—including fellow 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 saying: “They need to make a movie about the real champions of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the premise, but in reality it’s really a jumble of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually takes center stage.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s taken a dip, but thankfully here’s a new addition in the saturated market of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and highly entertaining—festive fodder.

It’s a story as familiar as can be: An American woman journeys to a far-off wintery locale and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher