Devouring The Latest Holiday Movies: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.
‘Tis the time of year to lounge on the sofa and demolish a packet of festive treats in front of a good movie, a awful feature, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.
This year, a batch of fresh 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).
Thus, in a helpful attempt to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to find the festive feeling, I binged as many fresh holiday releases as possible in a single day.
First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick
Beginning, optimistically, on a positive note. This release is the only 2025 movie on a well-known aggregator's list of the greatest 100 Christmas movies of all time.
The musical trio find themselves trapped in the UK after wrapping up their global concert series and must make it back for Christmas. Their attempts are thwarted by an evil Santa, who sings to announce they won’t get home until they “rekindle their familial spark.”
The repartee between the squabbling siblings is enjoyable even for the uninitiated, while fans will undoubtedly notice lots of in-jokes as they try to get back using any means of transport necessary.
It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.
It’s not legendary, but is superb for fans and a good start to the day.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their relatives who must sit through it.
Next: A Star in Panto
Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland stars as a movie actor cast a pantomime.
“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and ageing lead Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose agent has deceived him into thinking he’s performing in high-class London stage.
His pantomime fellow actors let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he insists angrily. You can guess their response. That is, unless you’re not acquainted with traditional British theatre traditions.
There are some very funny lines, some touching side stories, and the supporting actors is brilliant, too.
It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit naff at another season, but is a great entertainment at Christmas.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
10.19am - Christmas Karma
Danny Dyer shows up at the start of this film, too, insulting someone for the second consecutive movie. Is this a fresh holiday staple?
This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who collects Mr Sood, the modern take 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 tight-fisted Mr Sood is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.
This South Asian reinterpretation is at least distinct from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s portrayal is flat—a significant issue when he’s so the main character.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
Noon: A BBC Special
Before lunch for a channel's holiday special—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 (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) talks him into spending the sum on a family trip to Lapland.
There’s just one problem—he finds out there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to return the difference.
Pleasant yet unmemorable.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
A Classy Netflix Romance
This is one of those Christmas films where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the setting—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its main point—but it feels cosy and festive all the same.
High-powered businesswoman Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a country estate to secure an acquisition for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she runs into a man in a bookshop who offers to show her a festive Paris.
A commentator recently claimed this is the top new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a festive dalliance with a dash of elegance and gives the required cozy feelings.
The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is very good too.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄
Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas
Young Chris, played by Lenny Rush, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, in spite of the efforts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the reality.
The answer is somewhere, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the guidance of a panel of well-known scientists and personalities.
It’s low-key but sweet, and perfect viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄
Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.
Michelle Pfeiffer is the head 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 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 reality it’s really a jumble of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last takes center stage.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret
The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new offering in the packed genre of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and strangely compelling—holiday fare.
It’s a narrative as familiar as can be: An American woman travels to a picturesque cold country and ends up stumbling across romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
