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

‘Tis the season to lounge on the sofa and consume a tin of holiday pastries in front of a good movie, a poor film, or one that’s awesomely awful.

Once again, a crop of fresh holiday movies strives to join part of our holiday traditions—maybe 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 distinguish the gems from the coal, and to embrace the holiday mood, I binged as many fresh holiday releases as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Starting, ideally, on a high. This film is the only 2025 movie on a famous website's list of the greatest 100 festive features of all time.

The musical trio are stranded in the UK after finishing their world tour and must get home for Christmas. Their endeavors are thwarted by an malevolent Father Christmas, who sings to announce they won’t get home until they “find their sibling bond.”

The repartee between the squabbling siblings is enjoyable even for the uninitiated, while followers will no doubt catch lots of easter eggs as they try to get back using all transportation available.

It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.

It’s not a timeless masterpiece, but is excellent for fans and a good 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 appears as a celebrity roped into a traditional British stage show.

“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and older action hero Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose agent has deceived him into thinking he’s starring in prestigious English theatre.

His pantomime co-stars inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he retorts. One can imagine their reply. Unless you’re not acquainted with traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some hilarious moments, some touching sub-plots, and the supporting actors is brilliant, too.

It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit tacky at another season, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

A New Spin on Scrooge

An actor appears at the start of this film, too, insulting someone for the second film in a row. Is this a fresh holiday staple?

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 an actor from Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale develops as the miserly Mr Sood is haunted by the spirits of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This Indian Scrooge is at least distinct from all the others, but sadly he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s portrayal is flat—a problem when he’s so central to everything.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

Before lunch for a channel's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”

But after he receives an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) talks him into spending the sum on a vacation to Lapland.

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

Fun while it lasts but not lasting.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems

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

High-powered businesswoman Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a French chateau to do a deal for a champagne business. On the way, she runs into a fellow in a literary haven who offers to show her a festive Paris.

A commentator recently stated 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 dash of elegance and gives the required warm and fuzzy feels.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, despite the persuasion of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the truth.

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

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a dysfunctional 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 Christmas classics 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 what this is, but in practice it’s really a combination of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last finds her strength.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s gone downhill, but thankfully 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 familiar as can be: An American woman travels to a far-off wintery locale and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher