Marathon Viewing This Year's Festive Features: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

‘Tis the time of year to slob out on the sofa and devour a tin of holiday pastries in front of a terrific flick, a awful feature, or one that’s awesomely awful.

As always, a batch of latest Christmas films aims to become part of our festive viewing—potentially even joining the ranks alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

Thus, in a vital public service to separate the winners from the losers, and to get into the holiday mood, I binged as many recent holiday releases as possible in a single day.

First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick

Beginning, optimistically, on a good foot. This film is the sole 2025 entry on a well-known aggregator's list of the best 100 festive features of all time.

The popular band are stranded in the UK after concluding their international trek and must get home for Christmas. Their efforts are hindered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who breaks into song to declare they won’t get home until they “rediscover their brotherly magic.”

The back-and-forth between the squabbling siblings is enjoyable even for the non-fan, while devotees will no doubt pick up on lots of references as they attempt to get back using any means of transport necessary.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

It’s not legendary, but is great for fans and a good start to the day.

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

Next: A Star in Panto

Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a movie actor cast a traditional British stage show.

“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and older star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose manager has misled him into thinking he’s starring in prestigious English theatre.

His pantomime co-stars tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he insists angrily. It's easy to predict their reply. That is, unless you’re ignorant of traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some very funny lines, some touching sub-plots, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

A New Spin on Scrooge

Danny Dyer appears at the beginning 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 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story progresses as the miserly Mr Sood is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

There’s time for a channel's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “isn't big on Christmas.”

But after he is awarded an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) talks him into splurging the cash 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 determine how to reimburse the difference.

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

This is one of those Christmas films where the festive trappings are in the background—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its main point—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.

Ambitious executive Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a vineyard to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. During her travels, she encounters a man in a literary haven who vows to show her a festive Paris.

A commentator recently claimed this is the finest new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a festive dalliance with a hint of sophistication and gives the necessary cozy feelings.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, in spite of the efforts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the truth.

The secret is to be discovered, and Chris sets out to find it with the expert help of a group of well-known scientists and personalities.

It’s gentle but sweet, and good viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.

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

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

So that’s the concept, but in practice it’s really a mash-up of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually finds her strength.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s waned in quality, but happily here’s a new addition in the saturated market of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and highly entertaining—festive fodder.

It’s a story as familiar as can be: An American woman journeys to a picturesque cold country and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher