Marathon Viewing This Year's Festive Features: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

‘Tis the time of year to slob out on the couch and consume a packet of mince pies in front of a good movie, a awful feature, or one that’s awesomely awful.

As always, a crop of fresh Christmas films aims to become part of our festive viewing—potentially even finding a spot alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).

Thus, in a vital public service to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to embrace the holiday mood, I watched as many recent Christmas films as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Kicking off, optimistically, on a positive note. This film is the exclusive 2025 movie on a well-known aggregator's list of the greatest 100 holiday films of all time.

The musical trio are trapped in the UK after finishing their global concert series and must return for Christmas. Their efforts are hampered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who breaks into song to announce they won’t get home until they “rediscover their brotherly magic.”

The repartee between the arguing trio is amusing even for the non-fan, while followers will undoubtedly notice lots of references as they try to get back using every mode of travel possible.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their relatives who will have to sit through it.

Late Morning: Tinsel Town

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland appears as a Hollywood star roped into a pantomime.

“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and older action hero Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose manager has deceived him into thinking he’s starring in high-class London stage.

His pantomime cast-mates tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he insists angrily. You can guess their reply. That is, unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional British theatre traditions.

There are some very funny lines, some cockle-warming sub-plots, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too.

It’s the sort of feature 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 shows up at the beginning of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second film in a row. Might this become a fresh holiday staple?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who collects 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 familiar story unfolds as the miserly Mr Sood is haunted by the apparitions of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This Indian Scrooge is at least different from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s acting is wooden—a major flaw when he’s so the main character.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

Before lunch for a major broadcaster's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”

But after he receives an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) talks him into spending the sum on a holiday to Lapland.

There’s just one snag—he discovers there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to return the excess.

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems

This is one of those holiday movies where the decorations and snow are in the setting—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 (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a vineyard to negotiate a purchase for a champagne business. En route, she encounters a man in a literary haven who vows to show her Christmas in Paris.

A commentator recently declared this is the top new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a festive dalliance with a hint of sophistication and gives the obligatory warm and fuzzy feels.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

Young Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, in spite of the persuasion of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him otherwise.

The answer is out there, and Chris sets out to find it with the expert help of a team of well-known experts and celebrities.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a bickering American family who come back together for the holidays—including fellow acclaimed actress Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer begins by referencing Christmas classics like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before declaring: “They need to make a movie about the true heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the premise, but in practice it’s really a combination of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last finds her strength.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s gone downhill, but fortunately here’s a new offering in the packed genre of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and highly entertaining—holiday fare.

It’s a tale as well-worn: An American woman travels to a distant snowy land and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher