Marathon Viewing 2025's Holiday Movies: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

It is the season to relax on the couch and demolish a packet of festive treats in front of a great film, a bad movie, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

This year, a crop of new seasonal stories strives to join part of our seasonal watchlist—potentially even earning a place alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

So, in a noble effort to separate the winners from the losers, and to get into the Christmas spirit, I marathoned as many fresh Christmas films as possible in a single day.

Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Starting, hopefully, on a high. This release is the exclusive 2025 title on a famous website's list of the greatest 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The Jonas Brothers end up stranded in the UK after finishing their global concert series and must make it back for Christmas. Their attempts are hindered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who bursts into melody to state they won’t get home until they “rekindle their familial spark.”

The banter between the arguing trio is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while devotees will certainly catch lots of references as they try to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

It’s not an all-time classic, but is excellent for fans and a solid start to the day.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who will have to sit through it.

Late Morning: Tinsel Town

Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a Hollywood star roped into a pantomime.

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and aging star Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose representative has deceived him into thinking he’s appearing in renowned British drama.

His Aladdin fellow actors inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. It's easy to predict their response. Unless you’re not acquainted with traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some hilarious moments, some touching sub-plots, and the ensemble is cracking, too.

It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit tacky at a different time, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

A New Spin on Scrooge

A familiar face shows up at the outset of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the next movie straight. Could this be a fresh holiday staple?

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who picks up Mr Sood, the newest interpretation 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 filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative develops as the stingy Mr Sood is haunted by the spirits of Christmas past, present and future, 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 charismatic and Nayyar’s portrayal is flat—a problem when he’s so the main character.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

Before lunch for a channel's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “avoids Christmas.”

But after he is awarded an large festive windfall at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) persuades him splurging the cash on a family trip to Lapland.

There’s just one issue—he discovers there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to pay back the remainder.

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

This is one of those holiday movies where the decorations and snow are in the backdrop—Christmas is the setting 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 assigned to a French chateau to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. En route, she runs into a man in a bookshop who promises to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

A commentator recently declared this is the top new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a festive dalliance with a dash of elegance and gives the necessary warm and fuzzy feels.

The scene with a extended debate about Die Hard is very good too.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas

Young Chris, played by Lenny Rush, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, regardless of the persuasion of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the reality.

The truth is out there, and Chris sets out to find it with the assistance of a group of well-known experts and celebrities.

It’s understated but charming, and good viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.

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

So that’s what this is, but in execution it’s really a jumble of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally finds her strength.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s gone downhill, but happily here’s a new entry in the crowded field of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and utterly watchable—seasonal comfort food.

It’s a tale as familiar as can be: An American woman travels to a distant snowy land and ends up finding romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher