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

‘Tis the time of year to slob out on the couch and consume a tin of holiday pastries in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s awesomely awful.

This year, a selection of new holiday movies strives to join part of our seasonal watchlist—perhaps even joining the ranks alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).

So, in a helpful attempt to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to get into the holiday mood, I binged as many fresh Christmas films as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Starting, hopefully, on a high. This is the sole 2025 movie on a well-known aggregator's list of the greatest 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The Jonas Brothers end up stranded in the UK after finishing their international trek and must return for Christmas. Their attempts are thwarted by an evil Santa, who sings to state they won’t get home until they “rediscover their sibling bond.”

The banter between the bickering brothers is enjoyable even for the uninitiated, while followers will undoubtedly catch lots of references as they try to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their relatives who must sit through it.

8.45am - Tinsel Town

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland appears as a movie actor roped into a "panto".

“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and older action hero Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose representative has tricked him into thinking he’s appearing in renowned British drama.

His pantomime cast-mates let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he insists angrily. One can imagine their response. Except if you’re not acquainted with traditional panto catchphrases.

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

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

A New Spin on Scrooge

An actor pops up at the beginning of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the next movie straight. Is this a new Christmas tradition?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur 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 familiar story develops as the stingy Mr Sood is haunted by the ghosts of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This cultural adaptation is at least distinct from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s portrayal is flat—a significant issue when he’s so central to everything.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

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

But after he gets an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) persuades him spending the sum on a vacation to Lapland.

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

Fun while it lasts but not lasting.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Early Afternoon: 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 raison d’etre—but it feels cosy and festive all the same.

High-powered businesswoman Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a country estate to do a deal for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she encounters a guy in a bookshop who offers to show her Christmas in Paris.

A commentator recently claimed this is the best new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a holiday love story with a dash of elegance and gives the necessary warm and fuzzy feels.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas

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

The secret is out there, and Chris sets out to find it with the assistance of a team of well-known figures.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a dysfunctional American family who reunite 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 stating: “They need to make a movie about the real champions of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the concept, but in reality it’s really a combination of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last takes center stage.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new offering in the packed genre of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and highly entertaining—festive fodder.

It’s a tale as well-worn: An American woman journeys to a picturesque cold country and ends up finding romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher