Binge-Watching 2025's Christmas Films: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

‘Tis the time of year to lounge on the couch and demolish a tin of festive treats in front of a great film, a awful feature, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

Once again, a crop of fresh seasonal stories hopes to be part of our holiday traditions—maybe even finding a spot alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

So, in a helpful attempt to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to find the holiday mood, I watched as many recent festive movies as possible in a single day.

First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick

Kicking off, ideally, on a good foot. This film is the only 2025 entry on a famous website's list of the top 100 festive features of all time.

The popular band find themselves trapped in the UK after wrapping up their world tour and must return for Christmas. Their attempts are hindered by an evil Santa, who bursts into melody to state they won’t get home until they “find their brotherly magic.”

The repartee between the squabbling siblings is entertaining even for the non-fan, while followers will no doubt pick up on lots of easter eggs as they attempt to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

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

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

Next: A Star in Panto

A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland stars as a movie actor cast a traditional British stage show.

“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and aging action hero Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose agent has deceived him into thinking he’s starring in high-class London stage.

His pantomime co-stars tell him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he insists angrily. It's easy to predict their reply. That is, unless you’re ignorant of traditional British theatre traditions.

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

It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit naff at another season, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma

Danny Dyer pops up at the outset of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the next movie straight. Could this be 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 The Big Bang Theory’s Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale unfolds as the miserly Mr Sood is visited by the apparitions 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 problem when he’s so central to everything.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

Before lunch 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 gets an large festive windfall at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) talks him into splurging the cash on a vacation to Lapland.

There’s just one problem—he finds out there was an mix-up 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.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

This is one of those Christmas films where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the backdrop—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its main point—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.

Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a French chateau to do a deal for a champagne business. On the way, she encounters a man in a literary haven who offers to show her a festive Paris.

A critic recently claimed this is the best new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a Christmas romance with a hint of sophistication and gives the obligatory warm and fuzzy feels.

The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is very good too.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

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

The truth is somewhere, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the assistance of a panel of well-known experts and celebrities.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a dysfunctional 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 begins by referencing classic festive films like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before declaring: “They need to make a movie about the unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s what this is, but in practice it’s really a combination of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually comes into her own.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s waned in quality, but happily here’s a new addition in the crowded field of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and strangely compelling—holiday fare.

It’s a narrative as familiar as can be: An American woman goes on a quest to a far-off wintery locale and ends up finding romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher