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

‘Tis the time of year to lounge on the couch and consume a tin of holiday pastries in front of a good movie, a poor film, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

Once again, a selection of new seasonal stories strives to join part of our holiday traditions—perhaps even joining the ranks alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).

So, in a vital public service to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to find the Christmas spirit, I binged as many recent festive movies as possible in a single day.

First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick

Beginning, ideally, on a high. This release is the only 2025 title on a well-known aggregator's list of the best 100 festive features of all time.

The popular band are stuck in the UK after wrapping up their international trek and must make it back for Christmas. Their efforts are hampered by an villainous Saint Nick, who breaks into song to announce they won’t get home until they “rekindle their familial spark.”

The back-and-forth between the squabbling siblings is entertaining even for the casual viewer, while devotees will no doubt notice lots of easter eggs as they endeavor to get back using every mode of travel possible.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

It’s not legendary, but is superb for devotees and a solid start to the day.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who are obliged to sit through it.

8.45am - Tinsel Town

Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a movie actor tricked into 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 manager has tricked him into thinking he’s starring in prestigious English theatre.

His pantomime fellow actors inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he insists angrily. It's easy to predict their response. That is, unless you’re ignorant of traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some great jokes, some cockle-warming side stories, and the ensemble is cracking, too.

It’s the type of film that would be a bit tacky at any other time of year, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma

An actor pops up at the outset of this film, too, insulting someone for the second film in a row. Is this a budding festive ritual?

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who encounters 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 classic narrative develops as the miserly Mr Sood is confronted by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, 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 captivating and Nayyar’s portrayal is flat—a major flaw when he’s so the focal point.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

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

But after he gets an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) convinces him spending the sum on a holiday to Lapland.

There’s just one issue—he discovers there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to determine how to pay back the remainder.

Fun while it lasts but not lasting.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the background—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels cosy and festive all the same.

Driven corporate star Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is assigned to a country estate to do a deal for a champagne business. En route, she meets a guy in a book store who promises to show her Christmas in Paris.

A commentator recently stated this is the best new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a Christmas romance with a dash of elegance and gives the obligatory heartwarming sensation.

The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is particularly strong too.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

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

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

It’s understated but charming, and good viewing while expecting Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a quarrelling American family who gather for the holidays—including fellow acclaimed actress Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer starts by mentioning 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 premise, but in execution it’s really a jumble of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally finds her strength.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s taken a dip, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the packed genre of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and strangely compelling—holiday fare.

It’s a story as well-worn: An American woman travels to a distant snowy land and ends up stumbling across romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher