Devouring The Latest Holiday Movies: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

It is the season to slob out on the couch and demolish a box of festive treats in front of a terrific flick, a poor film, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

Once again, a selection of latest holiday movies hopes to be part of our seasonal watchlist—perhaps even finding a spot alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).

So, in a noble effort to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to find the festive feeling, I watched as many recent festive movies as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Starting, optimistically, on a good foot. This film is the exclusive 2025 title on a famous website's list of the best 100 festive features of all time.

The Jonas Brothers end up stuck in the UK after finishing their world tour and must return for Christmas. Their attempts are hampered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who sings to announce they won’t get home until they “find their sibling bond.”

The banter between the bickering brothers is entertaining even for the non-fan, while followers will certainly notice lots of easter eggs as they try to get back using every mode of travel possible.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

It’s not an all-time classic, but is excellent for fans and a positive start to the day.

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

8.45am - Tinsel Town

Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland appears as a Hollywood star roped into a "panto".

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and aging action hero Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose representative has tricked him into thinking he’s appearing in high-class London stage.

His pantomime co-stars tell him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he insists angrily. You can guess their retort. That is, unless you’re not acquainted with traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some great jokes, some touching storylines, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too.

It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit tacky at any other time of year, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

A New Spin on Scrooge

An actor pops up at the beginning of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second film in a row. Could this be a fresh holiday staple?

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who picks up 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 the filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story unfolds 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 cultural adaptation is at least distinct from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s performance is flat—a significant issue when he’s so the main character.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

Before lunch for a major broadcaster's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “isn't big on Christmas.”

But after he receives an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) persuades him splurging the cash on a holiday to Lapland.

There’s just one issue—he discovers there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to pay back the difference.

Fun while it lasts but not lasting.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

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

Driven corporate star Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a vineyard to secure an acquisition for a champagne business. En route, she encounters a fellow in a literary haven who promises to show her a festive Paris.

An expert recently stated this is the finest new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a holiday love story with a hint of sophistication and gives the required cozy feelings.

The scene with a extended debate about Die Hard is particularly strong too.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, despite the attempts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him otherwise.

The truth is to be discovered, and Chris sets out to find it with the guidance of a panel of well-known figures.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a bickering American family who come back together 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 real champions of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the premise, but in execution it’s really a mash-up of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last comes into her own.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s gone downhill, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the crowded field of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and strangely compelling—seasonal comfort food.

It’s a tale 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