Marathon Viewing 2025's Festive Features: The Hits, The Misses, and The Guilty Pleasures.
It is the time of year to slob out on the sofa and devour a tin of mince pies in front of a great film, a awful feature, or one that’s terrible yet terrific.
This year, a batch of fresh seasonal stories strives to join part of our holiday traditions—perhaps even earning a place alongside beloved favorites like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (don’t start).
Thus, in a vital public service to sort the crackers from the turkeys, and to embrace the holiday mood, I marathoned as many new festive movies as possible in a single day.
7.17am - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
Beginning, hopefully, on a positive note. This film is the sole 2025 movie on a well-known aggregator's list of the greatest 100 festive features of all time.
The Jonas Brothers find themselves trapped in the UK after finishing their international trek and must return for Christmas. Their endeavors are hampered by an evil Santa, who sings to announce they won’t get home until they “rediscover their familial spark.”
The banter between the squabbling siblings is entertaining even for the non-fan, while fans will certainly catch lots of in-jokes as they attempt to get back using any means of transport necessary.
It’s a travelogue of mishaps.
It’s not an all-time classic, but is superb for fans and a solid start to the day.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 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 movie actor cast a "panto".
“A what's a panto??” asks Sutherland’s “hard-to-work-with” and ageing 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 tell him he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he protests. One can imagine their retort. That is, unless you’re not acquainted with traditional stage call-and-response.
There are some hilarious moments, some touching storylines, and the supporting actors is excellent, too.
It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit tacky at any other time of year, but is a lot of fun at Christmas.
Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma
An actor appears at the beginning of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the second consecutive movie. Might this become a fresh holiday staple?
This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who collects Mr Sood, the modern take 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 develops as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George.
This cultural adaptation is at least distinct from all the others, but regrettably he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s acting is flat—a significant issue when he’s so central to everything.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
Noon: A BBC Special
There's just enough time for a network's Christmas comedy-drama—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “isn't big on Christmas.”
But after he receives an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (portrayed by Morgana Robinson) persuades him splurging the cash on a vacation to Lapland.
There’s just one issue—he learns there was an mistake 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.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
Early Afternoon: Champagne Problems
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.
Ambitious executive Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is assigned to a vineyard to do a deal for a sparkling wine company. During her travels, she encounters a fellow in a book store who offers to show her a festive Paris.
A commentator recently claimed this is the finest new Christmas film of the past few years. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a holiday love story 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: 🎄🎄🎄
A Charming Quest
Teenage 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 truth is out there, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the expert help of a group of well-known scientists and personalities.
It’s low-key but charming, and good viewing while waiting for Santa to visit.
Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄
4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun.
Michelle Pfeiffer is the mother of a bickering American family who reunite for the holidays—including fellow Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary.
Pfeiffer opens by name-dropping Christmas classics like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before declaring: “They need to make a movie about the unsung heroes of the holidays—moms.”
So that’s what this is, but in practice it’s really a jumble of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character at last takes center stage.
Festive score: 🎄🎄
Evening: A Scottish Christmas Secret
The day’s waned in quality, but fortunately here’s a new addition in the packed genre of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and highly entertaining—seasonal comfort food.
It’s a narrative as well-worn: An American woman journeys to a picturesque cold country and ends up finding romance.
In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher