Devouring The Latest Festive Features: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.
It is the season to lounge on the sofa and consume a tin of festive treats in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s awesomely awful.
This year, a crop of new seasonal stories strives to join part of our holiday traditions—maybe even finding a spot alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).
Therefore, in a noble effort to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to get into the festive feeling, I marathoned as many recent festive movies as possible in a single day.
7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
Beginning, optimistically, on a positive note. This film is the exclusive 2025 movie on a famous website's list of the best 100 festive features of all time.
The musical trio end up stranded in the UK after concluding their global concert series and must get home for Christmas. Their efforts are thwarted by an villainous Saint Nick, who sings to declare they won’t get home until they “rediscover their brotherly magic.”
The repartee between the squabbling siblings is amusing even for the uninitiated, while devotees will no doubt pick up on lots of in-jokes as they endeavor to get back using all transportation available.
It’s a travelogue of mishaps.
It’s not a timeless masterpiece, but is superb for fans and a good start to the day.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who will have to sit through it.
8.45am - Tinsel Town
Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a celebrity roped into a "panto".
“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and older star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose representative has misled him into thinking he’s appearing in renowned British drama.
His Aladdin fellow actors tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he retorts. It's easy to predict their retort. That is, unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional stage call-and-response.
There are some hilarious moments, some heartwarming side stories, and the ensemble is cracking, too.
It’s the type of film that would be a bit naff at another season, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma
Danny Dyer shows up at the outset of this film, too, insulting someone for the second consecutive movie. Could this be a budding festive ritual?
This time, he’s a singing black cab driver 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 classic narrative 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 cultural adaptation is at least distinct from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s portrayal is wooden—a significant issue when he’s so central to everything.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
12.04pm - Stuffed
There’s time for a channel's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “isn't big on Christmas.”
But after he gets an large festive windfall at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) talks him into spending the sum on a holiday to Lapland.
There’s just one issue—he learns there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to pay back the difference.
Fun while it lasts but not lasting.
Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄
A Classy Netflix Romance
This is one of those holiday movies where the decorations and snow are in the setting—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.
Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a vineyard to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she runs into a guy in a book store who vows to show her a festive Paris.
A critic recently claimed this is the best new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a holiday love story with a hint of sophistication and gives the necessary heartwarming sensation.
The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is particularly strong too.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄
Mid-Afternoon: Finding Father Christmas
Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, regardless of the attempts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the truth.
The answer is somewhere, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the assistance of a group of well-known figures.
It’s gentle but charming, and perfect viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄
4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.
Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a dysfunctional American family who reunite for the holidays—including other Oscar nominee 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 real champions of the holidays—moms.”
So that’s the concept, but in reality it’s really a combination of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually comes into her own.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret
The day’s taken a dip, but happily here’s a new entry in the saturated market of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and utterly watchable—holiday fare.
It’s a narrative as familiar as can be: An American woman travels to a distant snowy land and ends up stumbling across romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
