🔗 Share this article Binge-Watching The Latest Holiday Movies: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good. ‘Tis the season to relax on the couch and devour a packet of holiday pastries in front of a great film, a bad movie, or one that’s awesomely awful. As always, a crop of new seasonal stories aims to become part of our seasonal watchlist—potentially even finding a spot alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it). So, in a helpful attempt to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to find the holiday mood, I marathoned as many fresh festive movies as possible in a single day. Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie Beginning, hopefully, on a high. This release is the only 2025 entry on a famous website's list of the greatest 100 festive features of all time. The musical trio end up stranded in the UK after wrapping up their world tour and must make it back for Christmas. Their efforts are hindered by an evil Santa, who breaks into song to state they won’t get home until they “find their sibling bond.” The banter between the arguing trio is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while devotees will certainly catch lots of in-jokes as they endeavor to get back using all transportation available. It’s a travelogue of mishaps. It’s not an all-time classic, but is superb for devotees and a good start to the day. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who must sit through it. Late Morning: Tinsel Town Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland appears as a movie actor roped into a traditional British stage show. “A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and older star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose representative has misled him into thinking he’s starring in high-class London stage. His Aladdin co-stars let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he retorts. One can imagine their reply. That is, unless you’re ignorant of traditional stage call-and-response. There are some great jokes, some touching storylines, and the ensemble is excellent, too. It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit naff at another season, but is a lot of fun at Christmas. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 A New Spin on Scrooge An actor shows up at the beginning of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the second consecutive movie. Might this become a fresh holiday staple? This time, he’s a singing black cab driver 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 the director of Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative unfolds as the stingy Mr Sood is haunted by the spirits of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George. This Indian Scrooge is at least unique from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s portrayal is flat—a problem when he’s so central to everything. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 12.04pm - Stuffed There’s time for a network's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “avoids Christmas.” But after he gets an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) convinces him blowing the money on a vacation to Lapland. There’s just one snag—he learns there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to reimburse 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 backdrop—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its main point—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same. Driven corporate star Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is assigned to a country estate to do a deal for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she encounters a guy in a bookshop who offers to show her a festive Paris. An expert recently stated 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 obligatory heartwarming sensation. The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is very good 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 truth. The secret is out there, and Chris sets out to find it with the expert help of a team of well-known experts and celebrities. It’s low-key but sweet, and good viewing while expecting Santa to visit. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 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 begins by referencing classic festive films 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 what this is, but in execution it’s really a mash-up of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually takes center stage. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret The day’s gone downhill, but thankfully here’s a new offering in the packed genre of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and utterly watchable—holiday fare. It’s a narrative as familiar as can be: An American woman goes on a quest to a picturesque cold country and ends up discovering romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
‘Tis the season to relax on the couch and devour a packet of holiday pastries in front of a great film, a bad movie, or one that’s awesomely awful. As always, a crop of new seasonal stories aims to become part of our seasonal watchlist—potentially even finding a spot alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it). So, in a helpful attempt to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to find the holiday mood, I marathoned as many fresh festive movies as possible in a single day. Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie Beginning, hopefully, on a high. This release is the only 2025 entry on a famous website's list of the greatest 100 festive features of all time. The musical trio end up stranded in the UK after wrapping up their world tour and must make it back for Christmas. Their efforts are hindered by an evil Santa, who breaks into song to state they won’t get home until they “find their sibling bond.” The banter between the arguing trio is entertaining even for the uninitiated, while devotees will certainly catch lots of in-jokes as they endeavor to get back using all transportation available. It’s a travelogue of mishaps. It’s not an all-time classic, but is superb for devotees and a good start to the day. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their loved ones who must sit through it. Late Morning: Tinsel Town Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland appears as a movie actor roped into a traditional British stage show. “A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and older star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose representative has misled him into thinking he’s starring in high-class London stage. His Aladdin co-stars let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Oh no I’m not,” he retorts. One can imagine their reply. That is, unless you’re ignorant of traditional stage call-and-response. There are some great jokes, some touching storylines, and the ensemble is excellent, too. It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit naff at another season, but is a lot of fun at Christmas. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 A New Spin on Scrooge An actor shows up at the beginning of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the second consecutive movie. Might this become a fresh holiday staple? This time, he’s a singing black cab driver 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 the director of Gurinder Chadha. The classic narrative unfolds as the stingy Mr Sood is haunted by the spirits of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George. This Indian Scrooge is at least unique from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s portrayal is flat—a problem when he’s so central to everything. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 12.04pm - Stuffed There’s time for a network's holiday special—which stars Guz Khan as a charmingly cantankerous character who “avoids Christmas.” But after he gets an sizable holiday payout at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) convinces him blowing the money on a vacation to Lapland. There’s just one snag—he learns there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to reimburse 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 backdrop—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its main point—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same. Driven corporate star Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is assigned to a country estate to do a deal for a sparkling wine company. On the way, she encounters a guy in a bookshop who offers to show her a festive Paris. An expert recently stated 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 obligatory heartwarming sensation. The scene with a detailed conversation about Die Hard is very good 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 truth. The secret is out there, and Chris sets out to find it with the expert help of a team of well-known experts and celebrities. It’s low-key but sweet, and good viewing while expecting Santa to visit. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄 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 begins by referencing classic festive films 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 what this is, but in execution it’s really a mash-up of those inspirations, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually takes center stage. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret The day’s gone downhill, but thankfully here’s a new offering in the packed genre of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and utterly watchable—holiday fare. It’s a narrative as familiar as can be: An American woman goes on a quest to a picturesque cold country and ends up discovering romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher