Binge-Watching 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 box of festive treats in front of a good movie, a bad movie, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

This year, a crop of new seasonal stories aims to become part of our holiday traditions—potentially even finding a spot alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it).

So, in a helpful attempt to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to find the holiday mood, I watched as many new Christmas films as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Starting, hopefully, on a good foot. This film is the only 2025 title on a famous website's list of the best 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The Jonas Brothers find themselves stranded in the UK after concluding their world tour and must make it back for Christmas. Their endeavors are hindered by an evil Santa, who breaks into song to announce they won’t get home until they “find their sibling bond.”

The repartee between the arguing trio is entertaining even for the casual viewer, while fans will certainly notice lots of easter eggs as they try to get back using any means of transport necessary.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

It’s not legendary, but is excellent for devotees and a solid start to the day.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their relatives who must sit through it.

8.45am - Tinsel Town

A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland appears as a movie actor roped into a pantomime.

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

His pantomime cast-mates let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he insists angrily. You can guess their response. That is, unless you’re ignorant of traditional panto catchphrases.

There are some hilarious moments, some heartwarming storylines, and the rest of the cast is excellent, too.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma

An actor appears at the outset of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the second film in a row. Could this be a budding festive ritual?

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 a star of Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story progresses as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is visited by the apparitions of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This Indian Scrooge is at least unique from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s portrayal is flat—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 endearingly grumpy man who “isn't big on Christmas.”

But after he is awarded an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) talks him into blowing the money on a vacation to Lapland.

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

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

This is one of those Christmas films where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the setting—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its main point—but it feels cosy and festive all the same.

Ambitious executive Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a French chateau to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. During her travels, she encounters a guy in a book store who vows to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

An expert recently claimed this is the finest new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a Christmas romance with a touch of class and gives the necessary cozy feelings.

The scene with a extended debate about Die Hard is particularly strong too.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

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

The truth is somewhere, and Chris sets out to find it with the assistance of a team of well-known scientists and personalities.

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

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a dysfunctional American family who gather for the holidays—including fellow 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 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 combination 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 gone downhill, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the packed genre of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and strangely compelling—festive fodder.

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

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher