Devouring 2025's Christmas Films: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.
It is the season to relax on the sofa and devour a box of mince pies in front of a good movie, a awful feature, or one that’s awesomely awful.
This year, a selection of fresh Christmas films strives to join part of our holiday traditions—potentially even finding a spot alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).
Therefore, in a helpful attempt to separate the winners from the losers, and to get into the festive feeling, I marathoned as many fresh holiday releases as possible in a single day.
Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
Beginning, optimistically, on a positive note. This film is the exclusive 2025 movie on a well-known aggregator's list of the greatest 100 holiday films of all time.
The Jonas Brothers end up stuck in the UK after finishing their international trek and must get home for Christmas. Their attempts are hindered by an villainous Saint Nick, who breaks into song to state they won’t get home until they “rekindle their sibling bond.”
The back-and-forth between the bickering brothers is amusing even for the casual viewer, while fans will no doubt catch lots of references as they attempt to get back using any means of transport necessary.
It’s a travelogue of mishaps.
It’s not legendary, but is great for devotees and a solid start to the day.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who must sit through it.
8.45am - Tinsel Town
Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland stars as a movie actor tricked into a "panto".
“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and ageing lead Brad Mack, who has hit a rough patch and whose manager has misled him into thinking he’s starring in high-class London stage.
His pantomime fellow actors inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he protests. It's easy to predict their response. Except if you’re unfamiliar with traditional panto catchphrases.
There are some very funny lines, some heartwarming side stories, and the rest of the cast is cracking, too.
It’s the type of film that would be a bit naff at another season, but is a great entertainment at Christmas.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
A New Spin on Scrooge
Danny Dyer pops up at the outset of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the next movie straight. Is this a fresh holiday staple?
This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who picks up Mr Sood, the newest interpretation 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 develops as the miserly Mr Sood is confronted by the spirits of Christmas yesterday, today, and tomorrow, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.
This Indian Scrooge is at least distinct from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s performance is lifeless—a problem when he’s so central to everything.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
Noon: A BBC Special
Before lunch for a major broadcaster's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “isn't big on Christmas.”
But after he gets an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (starring Morgana Robinson) convinces him spending the sum on a vacation to Lapland.
There’s just one problem—he discovers there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to reimburse the excess.
Pleasant yet unmemorable.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
1.12pm - Champagne Problems
This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the background—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels cosy and festive all the same.
Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a country estate 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 past few years. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a Christmas romance with a touch of class and gives the required warm and fuzzy feels.
The scene with a extended debate about Die Hard is notable too.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄
A Charming Quest
Teenage 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 otherwise.
The truth is somewhere, and Chris sets out to find it with the expert help of a panel of well-known figures.
It’s gentle but sweet, and perfect viewing while anticipating Santa to visit.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄
Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.
Michelle Pfeiffer is the head 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 opens by name-dropping Christmas classics like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before declaring: “They need to make a movie about the unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”
So that’s the premise, but in execution it’s really a jumble of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally finds her strength.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret
The day’s waned in quality, but thankfully here’s a new addition in the saturated market of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and highly entertaining—festive fodder.
It’s a narrative as familiar as can be: An American woman journeys to a picturesque cold country and ends up finding romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
