Marathon Viewing 2025's Holiday Movies: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

‘Tis the time of year to relax on the sofa and consume a box of festive treats in front of a good movie, a awful feature, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

This year, a batch of fresh seasonal stories strives to join part of our festive viewing—perhaps even finding a spot alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).

Therefore, in a vital public service to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to get into the holiday mood, I binged as many recent festive movies as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Starting, ideally, on a positive note. This release is the only 2025 movie on a popular review site's list of the best 100 holiday films of all time.

The musical trio end up stranded in the UK after finishing their world tour and must return for Christmas. Their endeavors are hampered by an villainous Saint Nick, who sings to declare they won’t get home until they “find their familial spark.”

The repartee between the bickering brothers is enjoyable even for the uninitiated, while followers will certainly notice lots of in-jokes as they attempt to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a travelogue of mishaps.

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

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

8.45am - Tinsel Town

Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a movie actor tricked into a "panto".

“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and ageing star Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose manager has tricked him into thinking he’s performing in renowned British drama.

His pantomime cast-mates inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he retorts. You can guess their retort. Unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some great jokes, some cockle-warming storylines, and the supporting actors is excellent, 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.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma

Danny Dyer shows up at the start of this film, too, insulting someone for the second consecutive movie. Is this a fresh holiday staple?

This time, he’s a singing black cab driver who collects 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale unfolds as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is haunted by the ghosts of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This South Asian reinterpretation is at least different from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s performance is wooden—a significant issue when he’s so the focal point.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

Before lunch for a major broadcaster's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “avoids Christmas.”

But after he receives an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) persuades him splurging the cash on a vacation to Lapland.

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

Enjoyable but forgettable.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

1.12pm - Champagne Problems

This is one of those holiday movies where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the setting—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same.

Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a vineyard to secure an acquisition for a champagne business. En route, she encounters a fellow in a literary haven who offers to show her Christmas in Paris.

A commentator recently claimed this is the top new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a festive dalliance with a touch of class and gives the obligatory heartwarming sensation.

The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is notable too.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas

Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, in spite of the efforts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him otherwise.

The truth is out there, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the expert help of a team of well-known experts and celebrities.

It’s understated but sweet, and good viewing while anticipating Santa to visit.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

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

Pfeiffer begins by referencing 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 real champions of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the concept, but in practice it’s really a mash-up of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally takes center stage.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s taken a dip, but fortunately here’s a new offering in the packed genre of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and utterly watchable—holiday fare.

It’s a story as old as time: An American woman goes on a quest to a distant snowy land and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher