Marathon Viewing 2025's Festive Features: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights.

It is the season to relax on the sofa and demolish a box of festive treats in front of a terrific flick, a bad movie, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

As always, a batch of fresh holiday movies strives to join part of our festive viewing—maybe even earning a place alongside beloved favorites 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 find the Christmas spirit, I watched as many new festive movies as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Beginning, hopefully, on a good foot. This film is the only 2025 entry on a well-known aggregator's list of the best 100 holiday films of all time.

The musical trio find themselves trapped in the UK after finishing their international trek and must get home for Christmas. Their endeavors are hindered by an evil Santa, who bursts into melody to announce they won’t get home until they “rediscover their brotherly magic.”

The banter between the arguing trio is enjoyable even for the casual viewer, while fans will undoubtedly notice lots of references as they attempt to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

It’s not a timeless masterpiece, but is excellent for fans 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

A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a celebrity cast a pantomime.

“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and ageing star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose manager has tricked him into thinking he’s appearing in renowned British drama.

His pantomime co-stars let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. It's easy to predict their retort. That is, unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional British theatre traditions.

There are some very funny lines, some touching storylines, and the ensemble is brilliant, too.

It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit tacky at any other time of year, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

Danny Dyer pops up at the beginning of this film, too, insulting someone for the next movie straight. Is this a new Christmas tradition?

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who picks up Mr Sood, the modern take on Mr Scrooge from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Mr Sood is played by an actor from Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by the director of Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale develops as the miserly Mr Sood is haunted by the apparitions of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This South Asian reinterpretation is at least different from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s performance is lifeless—a problem when he’s so the main character.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

There’s time for a major broadcaster's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “isn't big on Christmas.”

But after he receives an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) persuades him spending the sum 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 determine how to pay back the difference.

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

This is one of those Christmas films where the festive trappings are in the background—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 vineyard to negotiate a purchase for a champagne business. During her travels, she meets a guy in a book store who promises to show her Christmas in Paris.

A critic 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 holiday love story with a hint of sophistication and gives the required warm and fuzzy feels.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

Young Chris, played by Lenny Rush, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, in spite of the efforts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the truth.

The answer is somewhere, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the expert help of a group of well-known scientists and personalities.

It’s understated but sweet, and ideal viewing while expecting Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

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 classic festive films 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 premise, but in reality it’s really a jumble of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually comes into her own.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s gone downhill, but happily here’s a new addition in the saturated market of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and strangely compelling—festive fodder.

It’s a tale as well-worn: An American woman journeys to a picturesque cold country and ends up finding romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher