Marathon Viewing This Year's Festive Features: The Good, The Bad and The So-Bad-It's-Good.

It is the season to slob out on the couch and devour a tin of festive treats in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

This year, a selection of new Christmas films hopes to be part of our festive viewing—potentially even earning a place alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).

Therefore, in a noble effort to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to find the holiday mood, I binged as many recent Christmas films as possible in a single day.

7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

Starting, optimistically, on a good foot. This film is the exclusive 2025 entry on a famous website's list of the greatest 100 festive features of all time.

The musical trio find themselves stuck in the UK after wrapping up their global concert series and must get home for Christmas. Their endeavors are hindered by an evil Santa, who sings to declare they won’t get home until they “rekindle their familial spark.”

The banter between the bickering brothers is entertaining even for the casual viewer, while fans will no doubt pick up on lots of in-jokes as they try to get back using every mode of travel possible.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their relatives who are obliged to sit through it.

Next: A Star in Panto

Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a Hollywood star roped into a pantomime.

“A panto-what?” asks Sutherland’s “temperamental” and ageing lead Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose representative has deceived him into thinking he’s starring in renowned British drama.

His pantomime fellow actors tell him he’s playing Buttons. “No I'm not,” he insists angrily. You can guess their reply. That is, unless you’re unfamiliar with traditional British theatre traditions.

There are some very funny lines, some cockle-warming side stories, and the supporting actors is excellent, too.

It’s the sort of feature that would be a bit naff at a different time, but is a highly enjoyable at Christmas.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

A New Spin on Scrooge

Danny Dyer shows up at the start of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the next movie straight. Might this become a new Christmas tradition?

This time, he’s a crooning chauffeur who collects Mr Sood, the latest spin 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 well-known tale unfolds as the tight-fisted 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 different from all the others, but unfortunately he’s not very captivating and Nayyar’s acting is lifeless—a major flaw when he’s so central to everything.

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄

Noon: A BBC Special

Before lunch for a major broadcaster's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who “isn't big on Christmas.”

But after he receives an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) convinces him splurging the cash on a holiday to Lapland.

There’s just one issue—he finds out there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to reimburse the difference.

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems

This is one of those holiday movies where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the backdrop—Christmas is the scene of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels comfortable and seasonal all the same.

High-powered businesswoman Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is sent to a French chateau to negotiate a purchase for a sparkling wine company. En route, she runs into a fellow in a book store who vows to show her the holidays in the City of Light.

An expert recently declared this is the finest new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a Christmas romance with a touch of class and gives the required heartwarming sensation.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas

Teenage Chris, played by Lenny Rush, refuses to stop believing in Father Christmas, in spite of the attempts of his dad (played by James Buckley) to tell him otherwise.

The secret is out there, and Chris embarks on a quest to find it with the expert help of a group of well-known figures.

It’s low-key but endearing, and good viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄

Late Afternoon: 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 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 the premise, but in practice it’s really a jumble of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally finds her strength.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s taken a dip, but thankfully here’s a new entry in the packed genre of cliched, saccharine, over-the-top—and strangely compelling—holiday fare.

It’s a narrative as well-worn: An American woman goes on a quest to a distant snowy land and ends up stumbling across romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher