🔗 Share this article Devouring 2025's Christmas Films: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good. ‘Tis the time of year to slob out on the sofa and consume a box of mince pies in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s so bad it’s good. As always, a batch of new holiday movies aims to become part of our holiday traditions—perhaps even earning a place alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start). Therefore, in a noble effort to separate the winners from the losers, and to get into the Christmas spirit, I binged as many recent Christmas films as possible in a single day. First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick Kicking off, optimistically, on a high. This is the only 2025 title on a popular review site's list of the best 100 festive features of all time. The Jonas Brothers find themselves stranded in the UK after wrapping up their global concert series and must get home for Christmas. Their attempts are hampered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who bursts into melody to declare they won’t get home until they “find their brotherly magic.” The banter between the arguing trio is entertaining even for the non-fan, while devotees will undoubtedly pick up on lots of references as they attempt to get back using all transportation available. It’s a travelogue of mishaps. It’s not legendary, but is great for fans 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 A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland appears as a movie actor tricked into a pantomime. “A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and older star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose agent has tricked him into thinking he’s performing in prestigious English theatre. His pantomime fellow actors tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. You can guess their response. That is, unless you’re ignorant of traditional British theatre traditions. There are some great jokes, some heartwarming side stories, and the rest of the cast is cracking, too. It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit naff at any other time of year, but is a lot of fun at Christmas. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma An actor pops up at the beginning of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second consecutive movie. Might this become a new Christmas tradition? This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur 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 miserly Mr Sood is confronted 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 distinct from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s portrayal is lifeless—a significant issue when he’s so the focal point. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄 12.04pm - Stuffed There's just enough time for a channel's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “avoids 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 problem—he finds out there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to determine how to reimburse the remainder. Enjoyable but forgettable. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems This is one of those Christmas films where the decorations and snow are in the backdrop—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its main point—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same. Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a French chateau to secure an acquisition for a champagne business. On the way, she runs into a guy in a literary haven who offers to show her Christmas in Paris. A critic recently claimed this is the finest new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, 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 notable too. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 A Charming Quest Young Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, in spite of the attempts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him otherwise. The secret is somewhere, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the expert help of a team of well-known experts and celebrities. It’s gentle but endearing, and perfect viewing while anticipating Santa to visit. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄 A Star-Studded Family Drama Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a quarrelling American family who gather for the holidays—including fellow Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary. Pfeiffer opens by name-dropping holiday staples 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 practice it’s really a mash-up of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last takes center stage. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret The day’s taken a dip, but happily here’s a new offering in the packed genre of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and strangely compelling—seasonal comfort food. It’s a story as familiar as can be: An American woman travels to a far-off wintery locale and ends up discovering romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
‘Tis the time of year to slob out on the sofa and consume a box of mince pies in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s so bad it’s good. As always, a batch of new holiday movies aims to become part of our holiday traditions—perhaps even earning a place alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start). Therefore, in a noble effort to separate the winners from the losers, and to get into the Christmas spirit, I binged as many recent Christmas films as possible in a single day. First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick Kicking off, optimistically, on a high. This is the only 2025 title on a popular review site's list of the best 100 festive features of all time. The Jonas Brothers find themselves stranded in the UK after wrapping up their global concert series and must get home for Christmas. Their attempts are hampered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who bursts into melody to declare they won’t get home until they “find their brotherly magic.” The banter between the arguing trio is entertaining even for the non-fan, while devotees will undoubtedly pick up on lots of references as they attempt to get back using all transportation available. It’s a travelogue of mishaps. It’s not legendary, but is great for fans 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 A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland appears as a movie actor tricked into a pantomime. “A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and older star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose agent has tricked him into thinking he’s performing in prestigious English theatre. His pantomime fellow actors tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he protests. You can guess their response. That is, unless you’re ignorant of traditional British theatre traditions. There are some great jokes, some heartwarming side stories, and the rest of the cast is cracking, too. It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit naff at any other time of year, but is a lot of fun at Christmas. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma An actor pops up at the beginning of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second consecutive movie. Might this become a new Christmas tradition? This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur 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 miserly Mr Sood is confronted 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 distinct from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s portrayal is lifeless—a significant issue when he’s so the focal point. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄 12.04pm - Stuffed There's just enough time for a channel's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “avoids 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 problem—he finds out there was an mistake with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to determine how to reimburse the remainder. Enjoyable but forgettable. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems This is one of those Christmas films where the decorations and snow are in the backdrop—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its main point—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same. Driven corporate star Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is dispatched to a French chateau to secure an acquisition for a champagne business. On the way, she runs into a guy in a literary haven who offers to show her Christmas in Paris. A critic recently claimed this is the finest new Christmas film of the last several seasons. That’s a bit of a exaggeration, 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 notable too. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 A Charming Quest Young Chris, played by Lenny Rush, continues to believe in Father Christmas, in spite of the attempts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him otherwise. The secret is somewhere, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the expert help of a team of well-known experts and celebrities. It’s gentle but endearing, and perfect viewing while anticipating Santa to visit. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄 A Star-Studded Family Drama Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a quarrelling American family who gather for the holidays—including fellow Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary. Pfeiffer opens by name-dropping holiday staples 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 practice it’s really a mash-up of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last takes center stage. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret The day’s taken a dip, but happily here’s a new offering in the packed genre of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and strangely compelling—seasonal comfort food. It’s a story as familiar as can be: An American woman travels to a far-off wintery locale and ends up discovering romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher