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

It is the time of year to slob out on the sofa and demolish a tin of mince pies in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

As always, a batch of new holiday movies hopes to be part of our seasonal watchlist—potentially even finding a spot alongside timeless staples 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 marathoned as many recent festive movies as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Kicking off, ideally, on a good foot. This film is the only 2025 title on a well-known aggregator's list of the best 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The musical trio end up stuck in the UK after wrapping up their international trek and must make it back for Christmas. Their attempts are hampered by an villainous Saint Nick, who bursts into melody to announce they won’t get home until they “rekindle their brotherly magic.”

The repartee between the arguing trio is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while followers will no doubt notice lots of references as they endeavor to get back using any means of transport necessary.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

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

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

Next: A Star in Panto

A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland appears as a Hollywood star cast a "panto".

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and ageing action hero Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose agent has misled him into thinking he’s performing in prestigious English theatre.

His Aladdin cast-mates let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he retorts. It's easy to predict their retort. Unless you’re ignorant of traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some great jokes, some heartwarming side stories, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

Danny Dyer shows up at the outset of this film, too, insulting someone for the next movie straight. Might this become a new Christmas tradition?

This time, he’s a singing black cab driver who encounters Mr Sood, the newest interpretation 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 well-known tale progresses as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is visited by the apparitions of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This cultural adaptation is at least different from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s performance is flat—a problem when he’s so the focal point.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

There’s time for a network's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “isn't big on Christmas.”

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

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

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems

This is one of those Christmas films where the tree, fairy lights and snow 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.

Ambitious executive Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a French chateau to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she meets a man in a bookshop who offers to show her a festive Paris.

An expert recently declared this is the finest new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a holiday love story with a touch of class and gives the obligatory cozy feelings.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas

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

The truth is somewhere, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the assistance of a team of well-known experts and celebrities.

It’s low-key but sweet, and ideal viewing while expecting Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a bickering American family who gather for the holidays—including other Oscar nominee 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 reality it’s really a mash-up of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually comes into her own.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s waned in quality, but fortunately here’s a new offering in the packed genre of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and highly entertaining—seasonal comfort food.

It’s a tale as old as time: An American woman goes on a quest to a distant snowy land and ends up stumbling across romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher