This is the time of year to curl up on the couch with a box of mince pies and watch a good movie, a bad movie, or a movie that's so bad it's good. This year, as ever, a crop of new Christmas films are hoping to be part of our festive viewing - and perhaps even join the ranks of enduring classics alongside the likes of Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually and Die Hard (don't start).
So, in an effort to bring you a vital public service by sorting the crackers from the turkeys, and in an attempt to get myself into the Christmas spirit, I binged as many new Christmas films as possible in a day.
7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
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| Disney/John Medland(Image: BBC) |
Hopefully, on a high note. On
Rotten Tomatoes' list of the 100 best Christmas movies ever made, this is the only 2025 release. (No, honestly, it is, you can check.)
After wrapping up their world tour, the
Jonas Brothers are stuck in the UK and must return home for Christmas. Their attempts are hampered by an
evil Santa, who breaks into song to say they won't get home until they "rediscover their brotherly magic".
Fans will no doubt pick up on a lot of in-jokes as the bickering brothers attempt to return to their families using any necessary means of transportation. The banter between the brothers is entertaining even for those who are not familiar with it. It includes private automobiles, trains, and planes. Despite the fact that it is not an all-time classic, it is enjoyable for fans and a good way to start the day. Christmas tree rating: for Jonas Brothers fans or family members of Jonas Brothers fans who will have to watch it.
Christmas tree rating:🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄for Jonas Brothers fans or🎄🎄🎄for Jonas Brothers fans' family members who will have to sit through it
On Disney+
8.45am - Tinsel Town
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| tinsel Town(Sky UK) |
Kiefer Sutherland, a Hollywood star, has been cast in a pantomime as a Hollywood star. "A panto-what?" asks Sutherland's "difficult" and ageing action hero Brad Mack, who has fallen on hard times and whose agent has tricked him into thinking he's starring in prestigious English theatre.
He learns that he is playing
Buttons from his Aladdin co-stars. "Oh no I'm not," he insists angrily. You can guess what they will say. Unless you're unfamiliar with traditional panto catchphrases.
Christmas tree rating:🎄🎄🎄🎄
On Sky Cinema/Now
10.19am - Christmas Karma
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| True Brit Entertainment |
Danny Dyer pops up at the start of this film, too, calling someone a mug for the second film in a row. Is this a brand-new Christmas custom? Mr. Sood, the most recent incarnation of Mr. Scrooge from
Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, is picked up by a singing black cab driver this time around. 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.
Hugh Bonneville,
Billy Porter, and
Boy George play the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, bringing the familiar tale of the poor Mr. Sood to his knees. This Indian Scrooge is at least distinct from the others; however, he lacks charisma and Nayyar's performance is subpar, which is a problem given that he is so integral to everything.
Christmas tree rating:🎄🎄
In cinemas now, and buy and rent on digital platforms from Monday 15 December
12.04pm - Stuffed
There's time before lunch for the BBC's original festive film (well, a 60-minute comedy-drama special) - which stars
Guz Khan as a lovably grouchy guy who "doesn't really do Christmas".
But after he gets an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (
Morgana Robinson) persuades him to blow the money on a family trip to
Lapland.
There's just one problem - he discovers there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to figure out how to pay back the difference.
Pleasant but unremarkable.
Christmas tree rating:🎄🎄
On BBC One and iPlayer on Tuesday 23 December
1.12pm - Champagne Problems
This is one of those Christmas movies with the tree, fairy lights, and snow in the background; Christmas is not the movie's main plot point; however, it still feels cozy and festive. Ambitious executive Sydney (
Minka Kelly) is sent to a
French chateau to do a deal to buy a champagne business. She meets a man in a book store on the way who says he will show her Christmas in Paris. Olly Richards, a journalist and author, recently stated on the Bah Humbug Christmas movie podcast that this is the best new Christmas movie in recent memory. That's a bit of a stretch, but it is a Christmas romance with a touch of class and gives the required warm and fuzzy feels.
Also very good is the lengthy Die Hard discussion scene. I decide to go shopping for some mince pies because I'm starting to feel a little festive.
Christmas tree rating:🎄🎄🎄
On Netflix
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 (The Inbetweeners' James Buckley) to tell him otherwise.
Chris sets out to discover the truth with the expert assistance of Sir Stephen Fry, Hannah Fry, Dame Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock, and Jason Fox. The truth is out there. It's quiet and charming, and it's nice to watch while Santa comes to visit.
Christmas tree rating:🎄🎄🎄
On Channel 4 on Christmas Eve
4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.
Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a quarrelling American family who come back together for the holidays - including fellow Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman and dad Denis Leary.
Before saying, "They need to make a movie about the true heroes of the holidays - moms," Pfeiffer makes reference to classic holiday movies like National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, It's a Wonderful Life, and Home Alone. That's what this is, but until Pfeiffer's character finally comes into her own, it's really just a mess of those earlier films.
Christmas tree rating:🎄🎄
On Amazon Prime Video
6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret
The day has gone downhill, but thankfully, there is a new entry in the crowded field of formulaic, schmaltzy, poorly performed, but highly entertaining, holiday fare. It's a tale as old as time, or as old as the Hallmark Channel at least. A woman from the United States travels to a faraway, snow-covered land in search of love. With sister Patsy Kensit back home, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher who travels from Los Angeles to the
Scottish Highlands to find an author who must overcome writer's block, solve a family mystery, and save the local castle from Duke Hamish. For a Christmas movie, cheap and cheesy is not necessarily a bad thing, and it has made me feel more festive than most of the others.
Christmas tree rating:🎄 but🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 if you know and like what you're getting.
On Channel 5, streaming service 5 and Paramount+
8.19pm - Goodbye June
I've saved the most intriguing for last. This is Kate Winslet's directorial debut, and she stars alongside Dame Helen Mirren, Toni Collette, Timothy Spall, Andrea Riseborough and Johnny Flynn.
This isn't your typical joyful holiday activity. Dame Helen's character has cancer and may or may not make it to Christmas. It's an intimate family drama with top-drawer performances.
I was ready to be cynical about the fact it was written by Winslet's son Joe Anders when he was 19, a nepotastic endeavour, but the script is skilled and sensitive, if sentimental.
You wouldn't put it on for a simple Christmas comfort movie, but because it has humor, warmth, and heartbreaking realism, it stands out from other holiday movies that are as garish and pointless as a bauble.
Christmas tree rating:🎄🎄🎄🎄
In cinemas now and on Netflix from Christmas Eve
There are lots more new Christmas films, but that's probably more than is healthy for one person to watch in one day.
Despite the huge variety, they're all about journeys of self-discovery and the appreciation of what's important in life. Are there any future classics? Most likely not. I'm finally feeling festive enough to put up the Christmas tree, though, and will decorate it with Die Hard on in the background.
Source: BBC
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