Devouring The Latest Festive Features: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

‘Tis the season to slob out on the sofa and consume a tin of holiday pastries in front of a terrific flick, a poor film, or one that’s so bad it’s good.

This year, a batch of fresh seasonal stories aims to become part of our holiday traditions—maybe even earning a place alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).

So, in a noble effort to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to find the festive feeling, I watched as many fresh festive movies as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Kicking off, ideally, on a positive note. This release is the sole 2025 entry on a well-known aggregator's list of the best 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The popular band find themselves trapped in the UK after finishing their international trek and must make it back for Christmas. Their efforts are hindered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who breaks into song to declare they won’t get home until they “rediscover their brotherly magic.”

The repartee between the bickering brothers is enjoyable even for the non-fan, while fans will no doubt catch lots of references as they try to get back using every mode of travel possible.

It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.

It’s not a timeless masterpiece, but is great for devotees and a good start to the day.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their relatives who are obliged to sit through it.

8.45am - Tinsel Town

Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland stars as a celebrity tricked into a "panto".

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and ageing star Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose manager has deceived him into thinking he’s performing in high-class London stage.

His pantomime 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 panto catchphrases.

There are some hilarious moments, some heartwarming storylines, and the supporting actors is excellent, too.

It’s the type of film that would be a bit naff at a different time, but is a great entertainment at Christmas.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

A familiar face pops up at the outset of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the second film in a row. Is this a fresh holiday staple?

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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative unfolds as the stingy Mr Sood is confronted 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 unique from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s acting is flat—a problem when he’s so central to everything.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

Before lunch for a major broadcaster's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “avoids Christmas.”

But after he receives an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) talks him into splurging the cash on a vacation to Lapland.

There’s just one problem—he finds out there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to reimburse the excess.

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

This is one of those holiday movies where the tree, fairy lights 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.

Ambitious executive Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a country estate to do a deal for a champagne business. En route, she runs into a man in a literary haven who promises to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

A commentator recently claimed this is the top new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a holiday love story with a dash of elegance 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

Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, in spite of the attempts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the truth.

The secret is somewhere, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the assistance of a team of well-known experts and celebrities.

It’s gentle but charming, and ideal viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a dysfunctional American family who come back together for the holidays—including other 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 saying: “They need to make a movie about the unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the concept, but in reality it’s really a jumble of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally takes center stage.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s taken a dip, but fortunately here’s a new entry in the packed genre of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and utterly watchable—festive fodder.

It’s a tale as familiar as can be: An American woman journeys to a far-off wintery locale and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher