Marathon Viewing 2025's Holiday Movies: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.
It is the time of year to slob out on the couch and consume a tin of mince pies in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s so bad it’s good.
Once again, a batch of new holiday movies hopes to be part of our holiday traditions—perhaps even earning a place alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).
Therefore, in a helpful attempt to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to embrace the holiday mood, I binged as many recent festive movies as possible in a single day.
7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
Kicking off, optimistically, on a positive note. This is the sole 2025 entry on a popular review site's list of the greatest 100 festive features of all time.
The popular band are stranded in the UK after concluding their world tour and must make it back for Christmas. Their endeavors are thwarted by an villainous Saint Nick, who breaks into song to declare they won’t get home until they “rediscover their sibling bond.”
The back-and-forth between the bickering brothers is entertaining even for the casual viewer, while followers will undoubtedly notice lots of references 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 excellent for devotees and a positive start to the day.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who must sit through it.
Late Morning: Tinsel Town
Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland stars as a Hollywood star roped into a "panto".
“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and ageing star Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose manager has tricked him into thinking he’s appearing in prestigious English theatre.
His pantomime co-stars inform him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he insists angrily. It's easy to predict their response. That is, unless you’re not acquainted with traditional panto catchphrases.
There are some great jokes, some heartwarming sub-plots, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too.
It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit tacky at any other time of year, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
A New Spin on Scrooge
Danny Dyer pops up at the beginning of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second consecutive movie. Might this become a budding festive ritual?
This time, he’s a singing black cab driver who encounters Mr Sood, the latest spin 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 the director of Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative develops as the miserly Mr Sood is visited by the ghosts of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.
This Indian Scrooge is at least different from all the others, but sadly he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s acting is flat—a significant issue when he’s so the main character.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
12.04pm - Stuffed
There’s time for a network's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “isn't big on Christmas.”
But after he is awarded an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) talks him into spending the sum on a vacation to Lapland.
There’s just one problem—he discovers there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to reimburse the excess.
Enjoyable but forgettable.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄
A Classy Netflix Romance
This is one of those holiday movies where the decorations and snow 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 (starring Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a French chateau to do a deal for a sparkling wine company. During her travels, she runs into a man in a book store who offers to show her the holidays in the City of Light.
A critic recently stated this is the finest new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a holiday love story with a hint of sophistication and gives the required cozy feelings.
The scene with a extended debate about Die Hard is particularly strong too.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄
3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas
Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, in spite of the persuasion of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the truth.
The secret is out there, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the expert help of a panel of well-known experts and celebrities.
It’s understated but sweet, and ideal viewing while anticipating Santa to visit.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄
4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.
Michelle Pfeiffer is the head 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 opens by name-dropping Christmas classics like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before stating: “They need to make a movie about the unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”
So that’s the concept, but in execution it’s really a mash-up of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually comes into her own.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄
6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret
The day’s gone downhill, 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 well-worn: An American woman travels to a picturesque cold country and ends up discovering romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
