Binge-Watching 2025's Christmas Films: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

It is the season to relax on the sofa and demolish a tin of mince pies in front of a terrific flick, a poor film, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

As always, a selection of latest seasonal stories aims to become part of our festive viewing—potentially even finding a spot alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).

Therefore, in a noble effort to separate the winners from the losers, and to find the Christmas spirit, I binged as many fresh holiday releases as possible in a single day.

First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick

Kicking off, optimistically, on a good foot. This is the only 2025 title on a famous website's list of the best 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The musical trio end up stranded in the UK after wrapping up their international trek and must return for Christmas. Their endeavors are thwarted by an villainous Saint Nick, who sings to announce they won’t get home until they “rekindle their familial spark.”

The back-and-forth between the arguing trio is entertaining even for the casual viewer, while fans will certainly catch lots of references as they try to get back using any means of transport necessary.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

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 family members who will have to sit through it.

8.45am - Tinsel Town

A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a celebrity roped into a pantomime.

“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and older lead Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose manager has tricked him into thinking he’s appearing in prestigious English theatre.

His pantomime cast-mates tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he insists angrily. You can guess their response. Unless you’re not acquainted with traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some great jokes, some touching sub-plots, and the rest of the cast is cracking, too.

It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit naff at any other time of year, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma

An actor pops up at the beginning of this film, too, insulting someone for the second film in a row. Could this be a fresh holiday staple?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who encounters Mr Sood, the newest interpretation 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 miserly Mr Sood is visited by the apparitions of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This South Asian reinterpretation is at least different from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s portrayal is flat—a significant issue when he’s so the main character.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

There’s time for a major broadcaster's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “isn't big on Christmas.”

But after he receives an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) talks him into splurging the cash on a family trip to Lapland.

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

Fun while it lasts but not lasting.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

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

Driven corporate star Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is assigned to a French chateau to do a deal for a sparkling wine company. During her travels, she runs into a fellow in a book store 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 recent era. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a holiday love story with a touch of class and gives the obligatory cozy feelings.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas

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

The answer is somewhere, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the expert help of a group of well-known experts and celebrities.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a dysfunctional American family who gather for the holidays—including fellow acclaimed actress Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer opens by name-dropping 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 concept, but in reality it’s really a mash-up of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally takes center stage.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s waned in quality, but happily here’s a new addition in the saturated market of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and strangely compelling—holiday fare.

It’s a tale as familiar as can be: An American woman journeys to a distant snowy land and ends up finding romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher