🔗 Share this article Binge-Watching The Latest Holiday Movies: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good. ‘Tis the time of year to relax on the couch and consume a box of holiday pastries in front of a good movie, a bad movie, or one that’s terrible yet terrific. As always, a batch of fresh holiday movies aims to become part of our holiday traditions—maybe even joining the ranks alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it). Therefore, in a helpful attempt to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to get into the festive feeling, I watched as many new festive movies as possible in a single day. Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie Kicking off, optimistically, on a high. This release is the sole 2025 movie on a famous website's list of the top 100 holiday films of all time. The Jonas Brothers end up stranded in the UK after wrapping up their global concert series and must make it back for Christmas. Their endeavors are hindered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who breaks into song to announce they won’t get home until they “rediscover their sibling bond.” The repartee between the arguing trio is enjoyable even for the non-fan, while fans will undoubtedly catch lots of easter eggs as they try to get back using any means of transport necessary. It’s private planes, trains and automobiles. It’s not an all-time classic, but is excellent for devotees and a solid start to the day. Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their relatives who are obliged to sit through it. Late Morning: Tinsel Town Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland stars as a celebrity roped into a traditional British stage show. “A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and ageing lead Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose representative has deceived him into thinking he’s appearing in prestigious English theatre. His Aladdin fellow actors tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he retorts. You can guess their reply. Unless you’re ignorant of traditional panto catchphrases. There are some very funny lines, some touching side stories, and the rest of the cast is excellent, too. It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit tacky at another season, but is a lot of fun at Christmas. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 10.19am - Christmas Karma Danny Dyer shows up at the start of this film, too, calling someone a mug 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 latest spin 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 familiar story unfolds 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 unique from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s portrayal is lifeless—a problem when he’s so central to everything. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 12.04pm - Stuffed There's just enough time for a channel's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “isn't big on Christmas.” But after he is awarded an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) persuades him spending the sum on a family trip to Lapland. There’s just one issue—he learns there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to pay back the excess. Pleasant yet unmemorable. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄 1.12pm - Champagne Problems This is one of those holiday movies where the decorations and snow are in the backdrop—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same. Ambitious executive Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is assigned to a French chateau to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she runs into a man in a book store who promises to show her a festive Paris. A commentator recently stated this is the best 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 necessary warm and fuzzy feels. The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is notable too. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄 3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, regardless of the efforts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the reality. The truth is to be discovered, and Chris sets out to find it with the guidance of a team of well-known figures. It’s gentle but sweet, and ideal viewing while waiting for Santa to visit. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 A Star-Studded Family Drama Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a bickering American family who come back together for the holidays—including other 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 stating: “They need to make a movie about the true heroes of the holidays—moms.” So that’s what this is, but in execution it’s really a combination of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually comes into her own. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄 Formulaic Fun The day’s taken a dip, but fortunately here’s a new entry in the crowded field of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and strangely compelling—seasonal comfort food. It’s a narrative as old as time: An American woman journeys to a far-off wintery locale and ends up stumbling across romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
‘Tis the time of year to relax on the couch and consume a box of holiday pastries in front of a good movie, a bad movie, or one that’s terrible yet terrific. As always, a batch of fresh holiday movies aims to become part of our holiday traditions—maybe even joining the ranks alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it). Therefore, in a helpful attempt to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to get into the festive feeling, I watched as many new festive movies as possible in a single day. Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie Kicking off, optimistically, on a high. This release is the sole 2025 movie on a famous website's list of the top 100 holiday films of all time. The Jonas Brothers end up stranded in the UK after wrapping up their global concert series and must make it back for Christmas. Their endeavors are hindered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who breaks into song to announce they won’t get home until they “rediscover their sibling bond.” The repartee between the arguing trio is enjoyable even for the non-fan, while fans will undoubtedly catch lots of easter eggs as they try to get back using any means of transport necessary. It’s private planes, trains and automobiles. It’s not an all-time classic, but is excellent for devotees and a solid start to the day. Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their relatives who are obliged to sit through it. Late Morning: Tinsel Town Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland stars as a celebrity roped into a traditional British stage show. “A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and ageing lead Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose representative has deceived him into thinking he’s appearing in prestigious English theatre. His Aladdin fellow actors tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he retorts. You can guess their reply. Unless you’re ignorant of traditional panto catchphrases. There are some very funny lines, some touching side stories, and the rest of the cast is excellent, too. It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit tacky at another season, but is a lot of fun at Christmas. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 10.19am - Christmas Karma Danny Dyer shows up at the start of this film, too, calling someone a mug 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 latest spin 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 familiar story unfolds 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 unique from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s portrayal is lifeless—a problem when he’s so central to everything. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 12.04pm - Stuffed There's just enough time for a channel's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “isn't big on Christmas.” But after he is awarded an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) persuades him spending the sum on a family trip to Lapland. There’s just one issue—he learns there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to pay back the excess. Pleasant yet unmemorable. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄 1.12pm - Champagne Problems This is one of those holiday movies where the decorations and snow are in the backdrop—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same. Ambitious executive Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is assigned to a French chateau to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she runs into a man in a book store who promises to show her a festive Paris. A commentator recently stated this is the best 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 necessary warm and fuzzy feels. The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is notable too. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄 3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, regardless of the efforts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the reality. The truth is to be discovered, and Chris sets out to find it with the guidance of a team of well-known figures. It’s gentle but sweet, and ideal viewing while waiting for Santa to visit. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 A Star-Studded Family Drama Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a bickering American family who come back together for the holidays—including other 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 stating: “They need to make a movie about the true heroes of the holidays—moms.” So that’s what this is, but in execution it’s really a combination of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually comes into her own. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄 Formulaic Fun The day’s taken a dip, but fortunately here’s a new entry in the crowded field of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and strangely compelling—seasonal comfort food. It’s a narrative as old as time: An American woman journeys to a far-off wintery locale and ends up stumbling across romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher