Binge-Watching This Year's Festive Features: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights.

‘Tis the season to slob out on the couch and consume a tin of holiday pastries in front of a terrific flick, a poor film, or one that’s awesomely awful.

As always, a batch of new holiday movies aims to become part of our seasonal watchlist—maybe even earning a place alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).

So, in a helpful attempt to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to embrace the Christmas spirit, I binged as many recent holiday releases as possible in a single day.

First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick

Starting, ideally, on a high. This release is the sole 2025 entry on a well-known aggregator's list of the best 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The Jonas Brothers end up stuck in the UK after concluding their world tour and must make it back for Christmas. Their attempts are hindered by an malevolent Father Christmas, who breaks into song to announce they won’t get home until they “rekindle their familial spark.”

The back-and-forth between the bickering brothers is entertaining even for the casual viewer, while devotees will certainly catch lots of in-jokes as they attempt to get back using all transportation available.

It’s private planes, trains and automobiles.

It’s not an all-time classic, but is excellent for devotees and a positive start to the day.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who must sit through it.

Late Morning: Tinsel Town

A-list actor Kiefer Sutherland stars as a celebrity roped into a traditional British stage show.

“A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and older star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose manager has tricked him into thinking he’s performing in prestigious English theatre.

His pantomime fellow actors inform him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he protests. It's easy to predict their response. Unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional stage call-and-response.

There are some hilarious moments, some cockle-warming side stories, and the supporting actors is brilliant, too.

It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit tacky at another season, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

A New Spin on Scrooge

A familiar face pops up at the beginning of this film, too, insulting someone for the second consecutive movie. Is this a budding festive ritual?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who encounters 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 the filmmaker behind Gurinder Chadha. The well-known tale develops as the stingy Mr Sood is confronted by the spirits of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.

This South Asian reinterpretation is at least distinct from all the others, but sadly he’s not very compelling and Nayyar’s performance is wooden—a major flaw when he’s so the main character.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

There's just enough time for a channel's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “doesn’t really do Christmas.”

But after he gets an large festive windfall at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) talks him into blowing the money on a family trip to Lapland.

There’s just one snag—he finds out there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to return the remainder.

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

This is one of those holiday movies where the festive trappings are in the setting—Christmas is the setting of the film rather than its core purpose—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.

High-powered businesswoman Sydney (played by Minka Kelly) is sent to a French chateau to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. En route, she encounters a man in a bookshop who vows to show her a festive Paris.

A commentator recently claimed this is the best new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a overstatement, but it is a festive dalliance with a hint of sophistication and gives the required cozy feelings.

The scene with a extended debate about Die Hard is notable too.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

A Charming Quest

Young Chris, played by Lenny Rush, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, regardless of the efforts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him the reality.

The secret is out there, and Chris sets out to find it with the expert help of a panel of well-known experts and celebrities.

It’s gentle but sweet, and good viewing while expecting Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: Oh. What. Fun.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a dysfunctional American family who come back together for the holidays—including fellow acclaimed actress Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.

Pfeiffer starts by mentioning 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 true heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s the concept, but in reality it’s really a jumble of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually comes into her own.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s taken a dip, but thankfully here’s a new addition in the saturated market of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and utterly watchable—seasonal comfort food.

It’s a tale as well-worn: An American woman travels to a picturesque cold country and ends up stumbling across romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher