Binge-Watching This Year's Christmas Films: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights.

It is the season to lounge on the couch and consume a box of holiday pastries in front of a good movie, a poor film, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

Once again, a crop of fresh holiday movies aims to become part of our holiday traditions—perhaps even joining the ranks alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).

So, in a noble effort to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to find the holiday mood, I marathoned as many recent Christmas films as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Beginning, optimistically, on a high. This film is the sole 2025 movie on a famous website's list of the greatest 100 festive features of all time.

The popular band end up stranded in the UK after finishing their world tour and must return for Christmas. Their efforts are thwarted by an malevolent Father Christmas, who bursts into melody to declare they won’t get home until they “rekindle their sibling bond.”

The back-and-forth between the bickering brothers is amusing even for the uninitiated, while devotees will no doubt notice lots of references as they attempt to get back using any means of transport necessary.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

It’s not an all-time classic, but is great for devotees and a solid start to the day.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their relatives who must sit through it.

Next: A Star in Panto

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a movie actor tricked into a "panto".

“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and older star Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose manager has tricked him into thinking he’s performing in renowned British drama.

His pantomime fellow actors let him know he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he protests. You can guess their retort. Except if you’re ignorant of traditional British theatre traditions.

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

It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit cheesy at any other time of year, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

Danny Dyer pops up at the beginning of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the next movie straight. Might this become a budding festive ritual?

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who encounters 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 the filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story unfolds as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is visited by the spirits of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This Indian Scrooge is at least different from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s performance is wooden—a problem when he’s so the main character.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

There’s time for a major broadcaster's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “avoids Christmas.”

But after he gets an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) convinces him blowing the money on a holiday 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 figure out how to pay back the excess.

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

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

Ambitious executive Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a country estate to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she meets a fellow in a book store who promises to show her Christmas in Paris.

A critic 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 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.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas

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

The answer is out there, and Chris sets out to find it with the expert help of a team of well-known scientists and personalities.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a bickering American family who reunite for the holidays—including fellow Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer opens by name-dropping holiday staples like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before saying: “They need to make a movie about the unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the concept, but in practice it’s really a combination of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually takes center stage.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new offering in the saturated market of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and strangely compelling—seasonal comfort food.

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

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher