Devouring This Year's Christmas Films: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

It is the season to relax on the couch and devour a box of mince pies in front of a good movie, a poor film, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

This year, a selection of fresh Christmas films aims to become part of our holiday traditions—potentially even finding a spot alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

Thus, in a noble effort to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to get into the holiday mood, I watched as many new Christmas films as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Kicking off, ideally, on a high. This release is the exclusive 2025 title on a well-known aggregator's list of the greatest 100 holiday films of all time.

The popular band are stuck in the UK after concluding their international trek and must make it back for Christmas. Their attempts are thwarted by an malevolent Father Christmas, who sings to declare they won’t get home until they “rekindle their familial spark.”

The repartee between the squabbling siblings is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while devotees will certainly catch lots of in-jokes 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 devotees and a solid start to the day.

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

Late Morning: Tinsel Town

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland stars as a celebrity roped into a pantomime.

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

His Aladdin fellow actors tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he retorts. It's easy to predict their reply. Unless you’re not acquainted with traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some very funny lines, some heartwarming side stories, and the supporting actors is excellent, too.

It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit cheesy at another season, but is a great entertainment at Christmas.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

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

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who collects Mr Sood, the modern take 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 familiar story progresses as the miserly Mr Sood is confronted by the spirits of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This South Asian reinterpretation is at least distinct from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s portrayal is wooden—a problem when he’s so the focal point.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

Before lunch for a network's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”

But after he is awarded an large festive windfall at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) convinces him splurging the cash on a holiday to Lapland.

There’s just one issue—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 pay back the remainder.

Fun while it lasts but not lasting.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Early Afternoon: 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 cosy and festive all the same.

Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a vineyard to secure an acquisition for a champagne business. On the way, she meets a guy in a literary haven who vows to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

An expert recently declared this is the top 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 detailed conversation about Die Hard is particularly strong too.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas

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

The secret is to be discovered, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the guidance of a panel of well-known figures.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a bickering 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 classic festive films like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before declaring: “They need to make a movie about the unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s what this is, but in reality it’s really a jumble of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally takes center stage.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s waned in quality, but fortunately here’s a new offering in the crowded field of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and utterly watchable—seasonal comfort food.

It’s a tale as old as time: An American woman travels to a distant snowy land and ends up finding romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher