Keegan-Michael Key (of Key & Peele) singing – what more do you need to know? As the deceitful Gustafson, he’s in “full panto villain mode”, according to The Guardian. Decades after betraying toymaker Jeronicus Jangle (Forest Whitaker) and stealing his most prized creation and book of inventions, the former apprentice goes on to become a success – although his Twirly Whirly is a bit… faulty.

Jeronicus has turned into a bit of a Scrooge, but his granddaughter (newcomer Madalen Mills) just might be the key to reignite his love of the craft and revisit a long-forgotten invention. The magic here comes by the bucketful, with a stellar cast (Phylicia Rashād and Hugh Bonneville, with Ricky Martin and Marisha Wallace lending their voices) and soundtrack (from Usher and John Legend) to boot.

The first film featured siblings Kate (Darby Camp) and Teddy Pierce (Judah Lewis) attempting to do something most children have probably thought about – capture Santa Claus. In this follow-up, Kate, now a teenager, runs away to the North Pole. There, an elf is plotting to cancel Christmas! Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, who are married in real life, take on the roles of Mr and Mrs Claus for a chemistry that really does make you believe it’ll be them eating the mince pies you leave out on Christmas Eve.

Who doesn’t love a bit of Dolly? She wrote all the songs featured in the film and included versions of “Christmas Is” and “Christmas On The Square” on her 2020 album A Holly Dolly Christmas. In a fitting turn for the singer, she plays an angel, who tries to get through to Regina Fuller (Christine Baranski, Dr Suess’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas). Regina returns to her hometown and wants to evict all the residents to sell the land to a mall developer. If Peep Show’s Jez was watching her attempts to destroy the community, we’d like to think he’d say, “That wasn't very Christmassy.”

When it was released in 2018, The Princess Switch quickly became top Christmas viewing, especially for a generation of people who grew up on The Parent Trap. Duchess Margaret Delacourt swaps places with Stacy, a woman who looks exactly like her (both played by Vanessa Hudgens). In this sequel, there’s more trading places and a third lookalike (also Hudgens), Margaret’s evil cousin Lady Fiona! Finding it hard to keep track? Fiona has blonde hair… or was it Stacy?

Emma Roberts stars as Sloane Benson, who recently broke up with her boyfriend and is catching flak from her family for being single over the holidays. When she meets Australian Jackson (Luke Bracey), who isn’t actively looking for a relationship, the two decide to be each other’s “holidates,” or plus-ones in a setup that suits them both. Then, you know the drill – they catch real feels for one another. There’s also a very cute film on Netflix called Plus One with the same concept (just not set at Christmas), starring PEN15’s Maya Erskine and The Boys’ Jack Quaid. We recommend both!

If you swap the Grinch for an alien, you get this plot. A kleptomaniac alien called X tries to steal Earth’s gravity during Christmas so he can possess everything. Then, young elf Holly mistakes him for a toy and takes him under her wing to rid him of his selfish ways. Iron Man’s Jon Favreau executive produces this stop-motion tale. The Chiodo brothers (Killer Klowns From Outer Space) are at the helm and previously worked on the stop-motion portion of Favreau’s Elf. Baby Walrus and Arctic Puffin even make an appearance! The whole concept was inspired by the manic rush during the Black Friday sales – and a message about consumerism at Christmas always hits home.