🔗 Share this article Devouring This Year's Christmas Films: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good. ‘Tis the season to lounge on the couch and consume a tin of mince pies in front of a great film, a bad movie, or one that’s awesomely awful. This year, a crop of fresh seasonal stories aims to become part of our holiday traditions—maybe even joining the ranks alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments). Thus, in a vital public service to separate the winners from the losers, and to find the festive feeling, I watched as many new festive movies as possible in a single day. First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick Beginning, optimistically, on a good foot. This release is the exclusive 2025 entry on a well-known aggregator's list of the greatest 100 holiday films of all time. The musical trio end up stranded in the UK after wrapping up their global concert series and must get home for Christmas. Their endeavors are hampered by an evil Santa, who bursts into melody to declare they won’t get home until they “rekindle their sibling bond.” The repartee between the squabbling siblings is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while devotees will undoubtedly notice lots of easter eggs as they attempt to get back using all transportation available. It’s a journey of epic proportions. It’s not a timeless masterpiece, but is great for fans and a good start to the day. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who must sit through it. Late Morning: Tinsel Town Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland appears as a Hollywood star cast a pantomime. “A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and ageing lead Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose agent has tricked him into thinking he’s starring in high-class London stage. His Aladdin fellow actors let him know he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he retorts. It's easy to predict their retort. That is, unless you’re not acquainted with traditional stage call-and-response. There are some great jokes, some heartwarming sub-plots, and the rest of the cast is cracking, too. It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit tacky at a different time, but is a lot of fun at Christmas. Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 A New Spin on Scrooge 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 budding festive ritual? This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who encounters Mr Sood, the latest spin on Mr Scrooge from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Mr Sood is played by a star of Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by the filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story progresses as the stingy Mr Sood is confronted by the spirits of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George. This cultural adaptation is at least unique from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s acting is wooden—a significant issue when he’s so central to everything. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 12.04pm - Stuffed 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 large festive windfall at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) talks him into splurging the cash on a family trip to Lapland. There’s just one problem—he finds out there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to determine how to reimburse the difference. Pleasant yet unmemorable. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 A Classy Netflix Romance This is one of those Christmas films where the decorations and snow are in the backdrop—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its main point—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same. Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a French chateau to negotiate a purchase for a champagne business. During her travels, she meets a man in a bookshop who offers to show her Christmas in Paris. An expert recently stated this is the best new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a holiday love story with a dash of elegance and gives the obligatory warm and fuzzy feels. The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is particularly strong too. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, despite the persuasion of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the reality. The answer is to be discovered, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the assistance of a panel of well-known scientists and personalities. It’s low-key but charming, and perfect viewing while waiting for Santa to visit. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun. Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a bickering American family who gather for the holidays—including fellow Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary. Pfeiffer opens by name-dropping holiday staples 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 what this is, but in reality it’s really a mash-up of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally comes into her own. Festive score: 🎄🎄 6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret The day’s taken a dip, but happily here’s a new addition in the packed genre of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and highly entertaining—holiday fare. It’s a story as familiar as can be: An American woman travels to a picturesque cold country and ends up discovering romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
‘Tis the season to lounge on the couch and consume a tin of mince pies in front of a great film, a bad movie, or one that’s awesomely awful. This year, a crop of fresh seasonal stories aims to become part of our holiday traditions—maybe even joining the ranks alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments). Thus, in a vital public service to separate the winners from the losers, and to find the festive feeling, I watched as many new festive movies as possible in a single day. First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick Beginning, optimistically, on a good foot. This release is the exclusive 2025 entry on a well-known aggregator's list of the greatest 100 holiday films of all time. The musical trio end up stranded in the UK after wrapping up their global concert series and must get home for Christmas. Their endeavors are hampered by an evil Santa, who bursts into melody to declare they won’t get home until they “rekindle their sibling bond.” The repartee between the squabbling siblings is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while devotees will undoubtedly notice lots of easter eggs as they attempt to get back using all transportation available. It’s a journey of epic proportions. It’s not a timeless masterpiece, but is great for fans and a good start to the day. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who must sit through it. Late Morning: Tinsel Town Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland appears as a Hollywood star cast a pantomime. “A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and ageing lead Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose agent has tricked him into thinking he’s starring in high-class London stage. His Aladdin fellow actors let him know he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he retorts. It's easy to predict their retort. That is, unless you’re not acquainted with traditional stage call-and-response. There are some great jokes, some heartwarming sub-plots, and the rest of the cast is cracking, too. It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit tacky at a different time, but is a lot of fun at Christmas. Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 A New Spin on Scrooge 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 budding festive ritual? This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who encounters Mr Sood, the latest spin on Mr Scrooge from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Mr Sood is played by a star of Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by the filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story progresses as the stingy Mr Sood is confronted by the spirits of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George. This cultural adaptation is at least unique from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s acting is wooden—a significant issue when he’s so central to everything. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 12.04pm - Stuffed 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 large festive windfall at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) talks him into splurging the cash on a family trip to Lapland. There’s just one problem—he finds out there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to determine how to reimburse the difference. Pleasant yet unmemorable. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 A Classy Netflix Romance This is one of those Christmas films where the decorations and snow are in the backdrop—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its main point—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same. Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a French chateau to negotiate a purchase for a champagne business. During her travels, she meets a man in a bookshop who offers to show her Christmas in Paris. An expert recently stated this is the best new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a holiday love story with a dash of elegance and gives the obligatory warm and fuzzy feels. The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is particularly strong too. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, despite the persuasion of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the reality. The answer is to be discovered, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the assistance of a panel of well-known scientists and personalities. It’s low-key but charming, and perfect viewing while waiting for Santa to visit. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun. Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a bickering American family who gather for the holidays—including fellow Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary. Pfeiffer opens by name-dropping holiday staples 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 what this is, but in reality it’s really a mash-up of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally comes into her own. Festive score: 🎄🎄 6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret The day’s taken a dip, but happily here’s a new addition in the packed genre of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and highly entertaining—holiday fare. It’s a story as familiar as can be: An American woman travels to a picturesque cold country and ends up discovering romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher