🔗 Share this article Marathon Viewing 2025's Christmas Films: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights. ‘Tis the season to relax on the sofa and demolish a tin of festive treats in front of a great film, a bad movie, or one that’s awesomely awful. As always, a selection of latest Christmas films aims to become part of our holiday traditions—potentially even finding a spot alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start). Therefore, in a helpful attempt to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to embrace the festive feeling, I marathoned as many fresh Christmas films as possible in a single day. Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie 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 musical trio are trapped in the UK after concluding their global concert series and must make it back for Christmas. Their attempts are hampered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who bursts into melody to state they won’t get home until they “rekindle their familial spark.” The banter between the arguing trio is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while devotees will certainly catch lots of references as they endeavor to get back using all transportation available. It’s a travelogue of mishaps. It’s not legendary, but is excellent 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. Next: A Star in Panto A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland stars as a Hollywood star roped into a pantomime. “A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and ageing star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose agent has tricked him into thinking he’s starring in prestigious English theatre. His Aladdin fellow actors tell him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he protests. You can guess their response. Unless you’re ignorant of traditional British theatre traditions. There are some hilarious moments, some heartwarming sub-plots, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too. It’s the type of film that would be a bit tacky at any other time of year, but is a great entertainment at Christmas. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 A New Spin on Scrooge An actor appears 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 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative develops as the tight-fisted 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 sadly he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s acting is wooden—a problem when he’s so central to everything. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄 12.04pm - Stuffed There’s time 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 (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) talks him into spending the sum on a family trip 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 devise a plan for how to return the difference. Pleasant yet unmemorable. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄 Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the setting—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its main point—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same. High-powered businesswoman Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is sent to a country estate to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. During her travels, she meets a fellow in a literary haven who vows to show her Christmas in Paris. A commentator recently stated this is the top new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a Christmas romance with a dash of elegance 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, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, despite the attempts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the reality. The answer is somewhere, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the guidance of a group of well-known experts and celebrities. It’s low-key but sweet, and good viewing while waiting for Santa to visit. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄 4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun. Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a bickering American family who reunite for the holidays—including other Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary. Pfeiffer opens by name-dropping 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 unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.” So that’s the premise, but in practice it’s really a combination of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last takes center stage. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 Formulaic Fun The day’s gone downhill, but thankfully here’s a new offering in the saturated market of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and highly entertaining—seasonal comfort food. It’s a story as old as time: An American woman goes on a quest to a picturesque cold country and ends up finding romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
‘Tis the season to relax on the sofa and demolish a tin of festive treats in front of a great film, a bad movie, or one that’s awesomely awful. As always, a selection of latest Christmas films aims to become part of our holiday traditions—potentially even finding a spot alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start). Therefore, in a helpful attempt to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to embrace the festive feeling, I marathoned as many fresh Christmas films as possible in a single day. Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie 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 musical trio are trapped in the UK after concluding their global concert series and must make it back for Christmas. Their attempts are hampered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who bursts into melody to state they won’t get home until they “rekindle their familial spark.” The banter between the arguing trio is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while devotees will certainly catch lots of references as they endeavor to get back using all transportation available. It’s a travelogue of mishaps. It’s not legendary, but is excellent 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. Next: A Star in Panto A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland stars as a Hollywood star roped into a pantomime. “A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and ageing star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose agent has tricked him into thinking he’s starring in prestigious English theatre. His Aladdin fellow actors tell him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he protests. You can guess their response. Unless you’re ignorant of traditional British theatre traditions. There are some hilarious moments, some heartwarming sub-plots, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too. It’s the type of film that would be a bit tacky at any other time of year, but is a great entertainment at Christmas. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 A New Spin on Scrooge An actor appears 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 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 Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative develops as the tight-fisted 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 sadly he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s acting is wooden—a problem when he’s so central to everything. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄 12.04pm - Stuffed There’s time 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 (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) talks him into spending the sum on a family trip 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 devise a plan for how to return the difference. Pleasant yet unmemorable. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄 Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the setting—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its main point—but it feels warm and holiday-like all the same. High-powered businesswoman Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is sent to a country estate to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. During her travels, she meets a fellow in a literary haven who vows to show her Christmas in Paris. A commentator recently stated this is the top new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a Christmas romance with a dash of elegance 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, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, despite the attempts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the reality. The answer is somewhere, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the guidance of a group of well-known experts and celebrities. It’s low-key but sweet, and good viewing while waiting for Santa to visit. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄 4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun. Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a bickering American family who reunite for the holidays—including other Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary. Pfeiffer opens by name-dropping 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 unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.” So that’s the premise, but in practice it’s really a combination of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last takes center stage. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 Formulaic Fun The day’s gone downhill, but thankfully here’s a new offering in the saturated market of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and highly entertaining—seasonal comfort food. It’s a story as old as time: An American woman goes on a quest to a picturesque cold country and ends up finding romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher