🔗 Share this article Binge-Watching 2025's Holiday Movies: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures. It is the season to lounge on the couch and consume a packet of holiday pastries in front of a good movie, a poor film, or one that’s so bad it’s good. This year, a selection of latest seasonal stories hopes to be part of our holiday traditions—potentially even finding a spot alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments). So, in a noble effort to separate the winners from the losers, and to get into the Christmas spirit, I marathoned as many fresh festive movies as possible in a single day. Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie Kicking off, optimistically, on a high. This is the sole 2025 entry on a well-known aggregator's list of the best 100 holiday films of all time. The popular band are stranded in the UK after concluding their international trek and must get home for Christmas. Their endeavors are hindered by an evil Santa, who sings to declare they won’t get home until they “rediscover their brotherly magic.” The repartee between the arguing trio is entertaining even for the casual viewer, while devotees will certainly notice lots of in-jokes as they try to get back using any means of transport necessary. It’s a journey of epic proportions. It’s not a timeless masterpiece, but is excellent for devotees and a positive start to the day. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who must sit through it. 8.45am - Tinsel Town A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland appears as a movie actor roped into a "panto". “A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and aging lead Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose agent has misled him into thinking he’s starring in renowned British drama. His pantomime co-stars tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. It's easy to predict their retort. That is, unless you’re not acquainted with traditional stage call-and-response. There are some great jokes, some touching side stories, and the supporting actors is excellent, too. It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit tacky at a different time, but is a great entertainment at Christmas. Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 10.19am - Christmas Karma Danny Dyer pops up at the outset 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 crooning chauffeur 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale progresses as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is confronted by the apparitions of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George. This South Asian reinterpretation is at least unique from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s portrayal is wooden—a problem when he’s so the main character. Festive score: 🎄🎄 Lunchtime: Stuffed Before lunch for a channel's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “doesn’t really do Christmas.” But after he is awarded an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) persuades him blowing the money on a holiday to Lapland. There’s just one issue—he learns there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to reimburse the excess. Pleasant yet unmemorable. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄 Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the backdrop—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its main point—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same. High-powered businesswoman Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a country estate to secure an acquisition for a champagne business. En route, she encounters a fellow in a literary haven who offers to show her a festive Paris. An expert recently claimed this is the best new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a Christmas romance with a hint of sophistication and gives the required warm and fuzzy feels. The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is particularly strong too. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, despite the persuasion of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him otherwise. The truth is out there, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the expert help of a group of well-known scientists and personalities. It’s understated but charming, and ideal viewing while anticipating Santa to visit. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun. Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a dysfunctional American family who reunite for the holidays—including other Oscar nominee 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 real champions of the holidays—moms.” So that’s the concept, but in practice it’s really a combination of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually takes center stage. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new addition in the crowded field of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and strangely compelling—seasonal comfort food. It’s a story as well-worn: An American woman journeys to a distant snowy land and ends up discovering romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
It is the season to lounge on the couch and consume a packet of holiday pastries in front of a good movie, a poor film, or one that’s so bad it’s good. This year, a selection of latest seasonal stories hopes to be part of our holiday traditions—potentially even finding a spot alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments). So, in a noble effort to separate the winners from the losers, and to get into the Christmas spirit, I marathoned as many fresh festive movies as possible in a single day. Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie Kicking off, optimistically, on a high. This is the sole 2025 entry on a well-known aggregator's list of the best 100 holiday films of all time. The popular band are stranded in the UK after concluding their international trek and must get home for Christmas. Their endeavors are hindered by an evil Santa, who sings to declare they won’t get home until they “rediscover their brotherly magic.” The repartee between the arguing trio is entertaining even for the casual viewer, while devotees will certainly notice lots of in-jokes as they try to get back using any means of transport necessary. It’s a journey of epic proportions. It’s not a timeless masterpiece, but is excellent for devotees and a positive start to the day. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who must sit through it. 8.45am - Tinsel Town A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland appears as a movie actor roped into a "panto". “A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and aging lead Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose agent has misled him into thinking he’s starring in renowned British drama. His pantomime co-stars tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. It's easy to predict their retort. That is, unless you’re not acquainted with traditional stage call-and-response. There are some great jokes, some touching side stories, and the supporting actors is excellent, too. It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit tacky at a different time, but is a great entertainment at Christmas. Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 10.19am - Christmas Karma Danny Dyer pops up at the outset 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 crooning chauffeur 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale progresses as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is confronted by the apparitions of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George. This South Asian reinterpretation is at least unique from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s portrayal is wooden—a problem when he’s so the main character. Festive score: 🎄🎄 Lunchtime: Stuffed Before lunch for a channel's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “doesn’t really do Christmas.” But after he is awarded an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) persuades him blowing the money on a holiday to Lapland. There’s just one issue—he learns there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to reimburse the excess. Pleasant yet unmemorable. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄 Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the backdrop—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its main point—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same. High-powered businesswoman Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a country estate to secure an acquisition for a champagne business. En route, she encounters a fellow in a literary haven who offers to show her a festive Paris. An expert recently claimed this is the best new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a Christmas romance with a hint of sophistication and gives the required warm and fuzzy feels. The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is particularly strong too. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, despite the persuasion of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him otherwise. The truth is out there, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the expert help of a group of well-known scientists and personalities. It’s understated but charming, and ideal viewing while anticipating Santa to visit. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun. Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a dysfunctional American family who reunite for the holidays—including other Oscar nominee 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 real champions of the holidays—moms.” So that’s the concept, but in practice it’s really a combination of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually takes center stage. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new addition in the crowded field of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and strangely compelling—seasonal comfort food. It’s a story as well-worn: An American woman journeys to a distant snowy land and ends up discovering romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher