Devouring 2025's Festive Features: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

It is the season to lounge on the sofa and devour a packet of holiday pastries in front of a good movie, a awful feature, or one that’s awesomely awful.

As always, a selection of new seasonal stories strives to join part of our seasonal watchlist—maybe even earning a place alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

Thus, in a noble effort to separate the winners from the losers, and to find the Christmas spirit, I binged as many new festive movies as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Kicking off, optimistically, on a good foot. This release is the only 2025 movie on a well-known aggregator's list of the greatest 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The musical trio end up stranded in the UK after finishing their world tour and must get home for Christmas. Their efforts are hindered by an villainous Saint Nick, who breaks into song to declare they won’t get home until they “rekindle their sibling bond.”

The banter between the squabbling siblings is amusing even for the non-fan, while followers will undoubtedly notice lots of easter eggs as they endeavor to get back using every mode of travel possible.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

It’s not an all-time classic, but is superb for devotees and a good start to the day.

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

Next: A Star in Panto

Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland stars as a movie actor roped into a pantomime.

“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and aging star Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose agent has tricked him into thinking he’s appearing in renowned British drama.

His Aladdin cast-mates tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he protests. One can imagine their response. That is, unless you’re ignorant of traditional British theatre traditions.

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

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma

Danny Dyer appears at the beginning of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the second film in a row. Could this be a new Christmas tradition?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who collects Mr Sood, the modern take 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 familiar story unfolds as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is visited by the ghosts of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

There’s time for a network's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “isn't big on Christmas.”

But after he receives an large festive windfall at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) convinces him 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 figure out how to pay back the difference.

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the backdrop—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels cosy and festive all the same.

High-powered businesswoman Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a vineyard to do a deal for a champagne business. On the way, she meets a guy in a literary haven who promises to show her a festive Paris.

A critic recently stated this is the top new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a Christmas romance with a touch of class and gives the necessary heartwarming sensation.

The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is very good too.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas

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

The answer is out there, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the assistance of a group of well-known experts and celebrities.

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

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.

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

Pfeiffer begins by referencing 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 unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s what this is, but in reality it’s really a jumble 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 entry in the packed genre of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and utterly watchable—festive fodder.

It’s a tale as old as time: An American woman travels to a far-off wintery locale and ends up finding romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher