Binge-Watching This Year's Festive Features: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

It is 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 so bad it’s good.

Once again, a batch of fresh seasonal stories strives to join part of our holiday traditions—potentially even joining the ranks alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).

So, in a helpful attempt to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to get into the holiday mood, I binged as many fresh festive movies as possible in a single day.

First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick

Kicking off, hopefully, on a high. This film is the sole 2025 movie on a popular review site's list of the best 100 holiday films of all time.

The Jonas Brothers find themselves stuck in the UK after wrapping up their international trek and must get home for Christmas. Their endeavors are hindered by an villainous Saint Nick, who sings to state they won’t get home until they “rekindle their familial spark.”

The repartee between the arguing trio is amusing even for the uninitiated, while fans will undoubtedly notice lots of easter eggs as they try to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

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

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

Next: A Star in Panto

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

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and ageing action hero Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose manager has deceived him into thinking he’s appearing in prestigious English theatre.

His Aladdin co-stars inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. You can guess their retort. Unless you’re not acquainted with traditional British theatre traditions.

There are some hilarious moments, some cockle-warming side stories, and the ensemble is cracking, too.

It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit cheesy at a different time, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

A New Spin on Scrooge

An actor appears at the start of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second consecutive movie. Might this become a new Christmas tradition?

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 The Big Bang Theory’s Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by the filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale unfolds as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This cultural adaptation is at least unique from all the others, but sadly he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s acting is flat—a problem when he’s so the main character.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Lunchtime: Stuffed

Before lunch for a network's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “isn't big on Christmas.”

But after he is awarded an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) talks him into splurging the cash on a family trip to Lapland.

There’s just one snag—he discovers there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to determine how to reimburse the excess.

Fun while it lasts but not lasting.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems

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 sent to a French chateau to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. En route, she encounters a fellow in a bookshop who vows to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

An expert recently stated this is the best new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a Christmas romance with a touch of class and gives the obligatory cozy feelings.

The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is particularly strong too.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

Young Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, regardless of the persuasion of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him otherwise.

The truth is somewhere, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the assistance of a group of well-known figures.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a bickering American family who come back together for the holidays—including fellow acclaimed actress Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer opens by name-dropping 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 premise, but in execution it’s really a mash-up of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually finds her strength.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Formulaic Fun

The day’s taken a dip, but thankfully here’s a new offering in the crowded field of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and strangely compelling—holiday fare.

It’s a tale as familiar as can be: An American woman goes on a quest to a far-off wintery locale and ends up stumbling across romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher