🔗 Share this article Marathon Viewing This Year's Christmas Films: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights. It is the season to relax on the couch and consume a tin of holiday pastries in front of a terrific flick, a awful feature, or one that’s terrible yet terrific. As always, a selection of fresh holiday movies hopes to be part of our seasonal watchlist—potentially 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 find the Christmas spirit, I marathoned as many recent Christmas films as possible in a single day. 7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie Beginning, optimistically, on a positive note. This release is the only 2025 entry on a famous website's list of the greatest 100 Christmas movies of all time. The musical trio find themselves trapped in the UK after concluding their international trek and must get home for Christmas. Their attempts are thwarted by an villainous Saint Nick, who sings to declare they won’t get home until they “rediscover their familial spark.” The back-and-forth between the squabbling siblings is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while fans will undoubtedly notice lots of in-jokes as they try to get back using all transportation available. It’s a journey of epic proportions. It’s not a timeless masterpiece, but is superb for devotees and a good start to the day. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their relatives who must sit through it. Late Morning: Tinsel Town Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland stars as a movie actor tricked into a "panto". “A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and ageing star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose representative has tricked him into thinking he’s performing in renowned British drama. His pantomime co-stars tell him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he insists angrily. It's easy to predict their reply. Except if you’re not acquainted with traditional stage call-and-response. There are some great jokes, some touching storylines, and the rest of the cast is cracking, too. It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit naff at a different time, but is a lot of fun at Christmas. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 10.19am - Christmas Karma A familiar face appears at the start of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the second film in a row. Is this a new Christmas tradition? This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who encounters 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 director of Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story progresses as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is visited by the spirits of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George. This cultural adaptation is at least different from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s acting is lifeless—a problem when he’s so the focal point. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 Lunchtime: Stuffed Before lunch for a major broadcaster's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “avoids Christmas.” But after he gets an large festive windfall at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) convinces him spending the sum on a vacation to Lapland. There’s just one issue—he finds out there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to reimburse the excess. Pleasant yet unmemorable. Festive score: 🎄🎄 A Classy Netflix Romance This is one of those Christmas films where the decorations and snow are in the background—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same. Ambitious executive Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is sent to a French chateau to negotiate a purchase for a champagne business. En route, she meets a guy in a bookshop who offers to show her a festive Paris. A commentator recently declared this is the finest new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a festive dalliance with a touch of class and gives the necessary warm and fuzzy feels. The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is particularly strong too. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, regardless of the attempts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him otherwise. The answer is to be discovered, and Chris sets out to find it with the assistance of a panel of well-known experts and celebrities. It’s low-key but charming, and perfect viewing while anticipating Santa to visit. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun. Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a bickering American family who come back together for the holidays—including fellow 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 declaring: “They need to make a movie about the true heroes of the holidays—moms.” So that’s what this is, but in reality it’s really a jumble of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last takes center stage. Festive score: 🎄🎄 6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret The day’s gone downhill, but thankfully here’s a new offering in the saturated market of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and utterly watchable—festive fodder. It’s a narrative as well-worn: An American woman travels to a distant snowy land and ends up finding romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
It is the season to relax on the couch and consume a tin of holiday pastries in front of a terrific flick, a awful feature, or one that’s terrible yet terrific. As always, a selection of fresh holiday movies hopes to be part of our seasonal watchlist—potentially 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 find the Christmas spirit, I marathoned as many recent Christmas films as possible in a single day. 7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie Beginning, optimistically, on a positive note. This release is the only 2025 entry on a famous website's list of the greatest 100 Christmas movies of all time. The musical trio find themselves trapped in the UK after concluding their international trek and must get home for Christmas. Their attempts are thwarted by an villainous Saint Nick, who sings to declare they won’t get home until they “rediscover their familial spark.” The back-and-forth between the squabbling siblings is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while fans will undoubtedly notice lots of in-jokes as they try to get back using all transportation available. It’s a journey of epic proportions. It’s not a timeless masterpiece, but is superb for devotees and a good start to the day. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their relatives who must sit through it. Late Morning: Tinsel Town Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland stars as a movie actor tricked into a "panto". “A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and ageing star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose representative has tricked him into thinking he’s performing in renowned British drama. His pantomime co-stars tell him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he insists angrily. It's easy to predict their reply. Except if you’re not acquainted with traditional stage call-and-response. There are some great jokes, some touching storylines, and the rest of the cast is cracking, too. It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit naff at a different time, but is a lot of fun at Christmas. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 10.19am - Christmas Karma A familiar face appears at the start of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the second film in a row. Is this a new Christmas tradition? This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who encounters 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 director of Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story progresses as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is visited by the spirits of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George. This cultural adaptation is at least different from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s acting is lifeless—a problem when he’s so the focal point. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 Lunchtime: Stuffed Before lunch for a major broadcaster's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “avoids Christmas.” But after he gets an large festive windfall at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) convinces him spending the sum on a vacation to Lapland. There’s just one issue—he finds out there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to reimburse the excess. Pleasant yet unmemorable. Festive score: 🎄🎄 A Classy Netflix Romance This is one of those Christmas films where the decorations and snow are in the background—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same. Ambitious executive Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is sent to a French chateau to negotiate a purchase for a champagne business. En route, she meets a guy in a bookshop who offers to show her a festive Paris. A commentator recently declared this is the finest new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, but it is a festive dalliance with a touch of class and gives the necessary warm and fuzzy feels. The scene with a lengthy discussion about Die Hard is particularly strong too. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, regardless of the attempts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him otherwise. The answer is to be discovered, and Chris sets out to find it with the assistance of a panel of well-known experts and celebrities. It’s low-key but charming, and perfect viewing while anticipating Santa to visit. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun. Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a bickering American family who come back together for the holidays—including fellow 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 declaring: “They need to make a movie about the true heroes of the holidays—moms.” So that’s what this is, but in reality it’s really a jumble of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last takes center stage. Festive score: 🎄🎄 6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret The day’s gone downhill, but thankfully here’s a new offering in the saturated market of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and utterly watchable—festive fodder. It’s a narrative as well-worn: An American woman travels to a distant snowy land and ends up finding romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher