🔗 Share this article Marathon Viewing The Latest Holiday Movies: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good. ‘Tis the season to lounge on the sofa and consume a packet of holiday pastries in front of a terrific flick, a awful feature, or one that’s so bad it’s good. Once again, a crop of new Christmas films hopes to be part of our festive viewing—potentially even joining the ranks alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments). Therefore, in a vital public service to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to find the holiday mood, I marathoned as many recent holiday releases as possible in a single day. First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick Beginning, ideally, on a high. This is the sole 2025 movie on a famous website's list of the greatest 100 Christmas movies of all time. The musical trio find themselves trapped in the UK after finishing their global concert series and must get home for Christmas. Their attempts are thwarted by an villainous Saint Nick, who sings to state they won’t get home until they “rediscover their sibling bond.” The back-and-forth between the squabbling siblings is enjoyable even for the non-fan, while devotees will undoubtedly notice lots of easter eggs as they attempt to get back using every mode of travel possible. It’s a journey of epic proportions. It’s not legendary, but is superb for devotees and a good start to the day. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who must sit through it. 8.45am - Tinsel Town Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a movie actor roped into a pantomime. “A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and older action hero Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose representative has tricked him into thinking he’s performing in prestigious English theatre. His Aladdin fellow actors tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he retorts. One can imagine their response. Except if you’re unfamiliar with traditional British theatre traditions. There are some great jokes, some touching side stories, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too. It’s the type of film that would be a bit naff 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 outset of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second film in a row. Might this become a new Christmas tradition? This time, he’s a singing black cab driver who picks up Mr Sood, the latest spin on Mr Scrooge from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Mr Sood is played by a star of Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale progresses 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 different from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s performance is flat—a problem when he’s so the focal point. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 Noon: A BBC Special There’s time for a channel's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “doesn’t really do Christmas.” But after he receives an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) persuades him splurging the cash 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 determine how to reimburse the excess. Fun while it lasts but not lasting. Festive score: 🎄🎄 A Classy Netflix Romance This is one of those holiday movies where the decorations and snow are in the background—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same. High-powered businesswoman Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a vineyard to negotiate a purchase for a champagne business. On the way, she runs into a guy in a literary haven who offers to show her the holidays in the City of Light. An expert recently declared this is the top new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a festive dalliance with a hint of sophistication and gives the obligatory warm and fuzzy feels. The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is particularly strong too. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, regardless of the attempts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the truth. The answer is out there, and Chris sets out to find it with the assistance of a panel of well-known experts and celebrities. It’s gentle but charming, and good viewing while anticipating Santa to visit. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄 A Star-Studded Family Drama Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a quarrelling American family who come back together for the holidays—including fellow 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 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 jumble of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last finds her strength. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new addition in the saturated market of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and highly entertaining—festive fodder. It’s a tale 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
‘Tis the season to lounge on the sofa and consume a packet of holiday pastries in front of a terrific flick, a awful feature, or one that’s so bad it’s good. Once again, a crop of new Christmas films hopes to be part of our festive viewing—potentially even joining the ranks alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments). Therefore, in a vital public service to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to find the holiday mood, I marathoned as many recent holiday releases as possible in a single day. First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick Beginning, ideally, on a high. This is the sole 2025 movie on a famous website's list of the greatest 100 Christmas movies of all time. The musical trio find themselves trapped in the UK after finishing their global concert series and must get home for Christmas. Their attempts are thwarted by an villainous Saint Nick, who sings to state they won’t get home until they “rediscover their sibling bond.” The back-and-forth between the squabbling siblings is enjoyable even for the non-fan, while devotees will undoubtedly notice lots of easter eggs as they attempt to get back using every mode of travel possible. It’s a journey of epic proportions. It’s not legendary, but is superb for devotees and a good start to the day. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who must sit through it. 8.45am - Tinsel Town Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a movie actor roped into a pantomime. “A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and older action hero Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose representative has tricked him into thinking he’s performing in prestigious English theatre. His Aladdin fellow actors tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he retorts. One can imagine their response. Except if you’re unfamiliar with traditional British theatre traditions. There are some great jokes, some touching side stories, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too. It’s the type of film that would be a bit naff 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 outset of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second film in a row. Might this become a new Christmas tradition? This time, he’s a singing black cab driver who picks up Mr Sood, the latest spin on Mr Scrooge from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Mr Sood is played by a star of Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale progresses 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 different from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s performance is flat—a problem when he’s so the focal point. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 Noon: A BBC Special There’s time for a channel's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “doesn’t really do Christmas.” But after he receives an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) persuades him splurging the cash 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 determine how to reimburse the excess. Fun while it lasts but not lasting. Festive score: 🎄🎄 A Classy Netflix Romance This is one of those holiday movies where the decorations and snow are in the background—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same. High-powered businesswoman Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a vineyard to negotiate a purchase for a champagne business. On the way, she runs into a guy in a literary haven who offers to show her the holidays in the City of Light. An expert recently declared this is the top new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a festive dalliance with a hint of sophistication and gives the obligatory warm and fuzzy feels. The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is particularly strong too. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, regardless of the attempts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the truth. The answer is out there, and Chris sets out to find it with the assistance of a panel of well-known experts and celebrities. It’s gentle but charming, and good viewing while anticipating Santa to visit. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄 A Star-Studded Family Drama Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a quarrelling American family who come back together for the holidays—including fellow 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 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 jumble of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last finds her strength. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new addition in the saturated market of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and highly entertaining—festive fodder. It’s a tale 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