Binge-Watching This Year's Holiday Movies: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

‘Tis the season to relax on the couch and consume a box of festive treats in front of a terrific flick, a bad movie, or one that’s awesomely awful.

This year, a crop of fresh seasonal stories aims to become part of our seasonal watchlist—perhaps even finding a spot alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

So, in a noble effort to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to find the Christmas spirit, I marathoned as many new Christmas films as possible in a single day.

First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick

Beginning, hopefully, on a positive note. This is the exclusive 2025 title on a popular review site's list of the top 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The Jonas Brothers end up trapped in the UK after concluding their international trek and must return for Christmas. Their efforts are hampered by an villainous Saint Nick, who sings to state they won’t get home until they “find their sibling bond.”

The back-and-forth between the arguing trio is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while followers will no doubt pick up on lots of in-jokes as they try to get back using every mode of travel possible.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

It’s not legendary, but is superb for fans and a positive start to the day.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who must sit through it.

Late Morning: Tinsel Town

Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a Hollywood star roped into a traditional British stage show.

“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and aging action hero Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose manager has tricked him into thinking he’s appearing in high-class London stage.

His Aladdin co-stars inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. One can imagine their response. That is, unless you’re not acquainted with traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some great jokes, some touching sub-plots, and the ensemble is brilliant, too.

It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit cheesy at any other time of year, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

An actor appears 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 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative unfolds as the miserly Mr Sood is haunted by the spirits of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This cultural adaptation is at least different from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s portrayal is lifeless—a major flaw when he’s so central to everything.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

There’s time for a channel's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “avoids Christmas.”

But after he gets an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) convinces him blowing the money on a family trip 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 figure out how to reimburse the remainder.

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

This is one of those Christmas films where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the background—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same.

Ambitious executive Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a country estate to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. En route, she runs into a guy in a literary haven who promises to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

A commentator recently claimed this is the best new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a Christmas romance with a hint of sophistication and gives the necessary heartwarming sensation.

The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is very good too.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

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

The secret is to be discovered, and Chris sets out to find it with the expert help of a team of well-known figures.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a quarrelling American family who reunite 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 true heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the concept, but in reality it’s really a mash-up of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually takes center stage.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s gone downhill, but thankfully here’s a new offering in the packed genre of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and utterly watchable—seasonal comfort food.

It’s a narrative as old as time: An American woman goes on a quest to a far-off wintery locale and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher