Marathon Viewing This Year's Christmas Films: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.

It is the season to lounge on the couch and consume a box of holiday pastries in front of a great film, a poor film, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.

This year, a crop of fresh seasonal stories strives to join part of our seasonal watchlist—perhaps even finding a spot alongside timeless staples like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (no arguments).

Therefore, in a noble effort to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to get into the festive feeling, I marathoned as many recent festive movies as possible in a single day.

First Up: The Jonas Brothers' Holiday Flick

Beginning, optimistically, on a high. This is the sole 2025 title on a famous website's list of the greatest 100 Christmas movies of all time.

The Jonas Brothers find themselves stranded in the UK after finishing their international trek and must return for Christmas. Their endeavors are hindered by an evil Santa, who breaks into song to state they won’t get home until they “rediscover their brotherly magic.”

The repartee between the bickering brothers is enjoyable even for the casual viewer, while followers will no doubt pick up on lots of references as they try to get back using all transportation available.

It’s a journey of epic proportions.

It’s not legendary, but is superb for devotees and a good start to the day.

Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their relatives who must sit through it.

8.45am - Tinsel Town

Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as a movie actor 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 high-class London stage.

His pantomime fellow actors let him know he’s playing Buttons. “Oh 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 touching side stories, and the rest of the cast is brilliant, too.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄🎄

10.19am - Christmas Karma

A familiar face shows up at the start of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the second consecutive movie. Is this a new Christmas tradition?

This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who picks up Mr Sood, the latest spin 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 classic narrative progresses as the miserly Mr Sood is visited by the ghosts 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 regrettably he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s performance is lifeless—a problem when he’s so the main character.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

12.04pm - Stuffed

There’s time for a channel's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “avoids Christmas.”

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

There’s just one issue—he discovers there was an mix-up with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to pay back the remainder.

Pleasant yet unmemorable.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

A Classy Netflix Romance

This is one of those Christmas films where the tree, fairy lights and snow 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 (played by Minka Kelly) is assigned to a vineyard to do a deal for a champagne business. On the way, she encounters a man in a book store who vows to show her Christmas in Paris.

A critic recently stated this is the best 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 obligatory cozy feelings.

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

Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄

3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas

Sixteen-year-old Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, in spite of the attempts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the truth.

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 gentle but endearing, and good viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.

Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄

A Star-Studded Family Drama

Michelle Pfeiffer is the head of a bickering American family who come back together for the holidays—including fellow 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 true heroes of the holidays—moms.”

So that’s what this is, but in reality it’s really a combination of those aforementioned movies, at least until Pfeiffer’s character eventually finds her strength.

Festive score: 🎄🎄

6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret

The day’s waned in quality, but fortunately here’s a new addition in the crowded field of predictable, sentimental, cheesy—and strangely compelling—holiday fare.

It’s a narrative as familiar as can be: An American woman journeys to a far-off wintery locale and ends up discovering romance.

In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher