From sheer joy to ho-ho-hum, here's the best (and worst) Christmas films of 2023

But while we all have classics that we return to year after year, where do 2023's offerings rank? And do they have what it takes to make a return every December?

The homemade crackers, the liquorice all sorts, the blistering heat that jumps off the screen - yep, this is an Aussie Christmas. That much is true when watching the trailer for Jones Family Christmas. What I wasn't expecting was how emotional it would be as well.

The Jones family have all congregated at the family farm in regional Victoria for Christmas. Eldest daughter Christina (Ella Scott Lynch), her husband Mishan (Dushan Phillips) and son Billy (Anay Gadre) have flown in from London. Danny (Nicholas Denton) has brought his new girlfriend, Flick (Tahlee Fereday), home to meet the family - which is a great plan until it's revealed that Flick is also the ex-girlfriend of Danny's sister, Alex (Max McKenna).

But it's Christmas and mum, Heather Jones (Heather Mitchell), is determined to make it a good one. Even if her husband Brian (Neil Melville) keeps eating liquorice all sorts.

And there's a real chance of that happening - until a bushfire means they all have to evacuate a couple of days before Christmas.

Jones Family Christmas almost feels like two films - before and after the evacuation. And from where I'm sitting that's how an Aussie Christmas that is threatened by bushfires is. There are the moments when Mum is still hopeful that things will go ahead as planned and Dad is preparing to jump into action at a moment's notice. And then there are the moments when Mum is worried about her volunteer firefighter son and Dad is preparing to move the community closer to water.

It's the type of Christmas that only Aussies need to worry about. And for those who lived through the 2019-20 bushfires - or even just remember the smoke that descended on the surrounding areas - the anxiety of this time is all too real.

Because of that, there's a chance you'll be caught off guard with your emotions in certain parts. And there will also be parts where you have a chuckle at the very Aussie characters, with both Tanya Hennessy and Jimmy Rees playing bit parts.

Just don't look too hard for these side characters when the climax comes. It's almost as if they disappear without a trace, despite the fact the fire is closing in.

I don't watch trailers before a film. If I did, I probably wouldn't go into Candy Cane Lane thinking that it was solely about a Christmas decoration competition. Imagine my shock when not only was it about so much more, but it was an original Christmas movie idea. That's rarer than a Christmas miracle.

It follows Chris Carver (Eddie Murphy) on his quest to win the $100,000 prize for best decorated festive house, to make up for the fact he lost his job days before Christmas. With his youngest child, Holly (Madison Thomas), by his side, he finds himself at an out-of-the-way Christmas store that has one-off decorations. Deciding on a giant Christmas tree featuring the 12 Days of Christmas, Chris signs what he thinks is the receipt and walks away thinking he's about to win the festive competition.

Little does he know he actually signed a contract with an elf called Pepper (Jillian Bell), and the tree he just bought is cursed. Not only do all of the gifts in the 12 Days of Christmas come to life (and let's face it, that's a lot of birds) but they're intent on making sure Chris spends eternity as a festive figurine, alongside Pip (Nick Offerman), Cordelia (Robin Thede) and Gary (Chris Redd).

The only way out is if Chris and the rest of his family - wife Carol (Tracee Ellis Ross), daughter Joy (Genneya Walton) and son Nick (Thaddeus J. Mixson) - can collect all the golden rings.

Out of all the Christmas films this year, this is the one has the most chance of featuring in the family festive movie line-up in the future. Is it Home Alone? No. But nothing is and it's too high a bar to measure the average festive film against. But considering just how repetitive Christmas content has become - and just how inconsequential Christmas has become in some films - this is your best bet for watching something new that somehow feels traditional.

A family Christmas can be tricky at the best of times. Particularly when you go home to surprise your family to find them already celebrating the holidays with your ex-fiancee - talk about awkward.

This romantic comedy sees the two exes - Graham (Robbie Arnell) and Ali (Leighton Meester) - battle it out to see who will stay to celebrate Christmas Day and who will leave. What's more, whoever wins gets to "keep" the family for all future holidays. Let the battle of the exes begin!

This is by no means an original premise. From toilet mishaps to competitive game nights and spiked cookies, EXmas lays out the most chaotic family Christmas you can imagine - and you would expect there to be more laughs because of it. But there's not.

But this, of course, is a Christmas film, and a romantic comedy one at that - are people really watching it in the hopes of it being their new favourite film? Or do they just want some light-hearted cheer to celebrate the season?

When you think of a magical festive entity, a genie is not necessarily what comes to mind. Will that even work? But when you see Genie, streaming on Australian Netflix, starring the ever-funny Melissa McCarthy and written by Love Actually and Notting Hill's Richard Curtis, you can't help but think you're in for a Christmas miracle.

And it's going to take a Christmas miracle for workaholic Bernard (Paapa Essiedu) to win his wife, Julie (Denée Benton) and daughter, Eve (Jordyn McIntosh) back after neglecting them for too long. Luckily for him, he stumbles upon an antique jewellery box that happens to hold genie, Flora (McCarthy). And also lucky for him, it turns out that the three-wish limit is also a myth.

Of course, Flora hasn't been out of her box in 2000 years, and we watch her, eyes wide with wonder, as she discovers the delights (and not-so-delights) of the bustling metropolis that is New York City.

There's this child-like sense of wonder that is reminiscent of Will Farrell's Buddy in Elf. But where Elf had Christmas at the very heart of its storytelling, something is missing in the festive sense. Sure, there's a fairytale-like quality to Genie but does merely being set in December make this a Christmas film?

Nevertheless, it is a wholesome film that makes perfect holiday TV viewing. And sometimes it's nice when you're not force-fed cheesy Christmas decorations and carols, while still having a slight festive feel.

Remember how great it was when Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan switched bodies in 2003's Freaky Friday? (Or perhaps even when Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster switched in the 1976 original?) Well, imagine that same magic turned up a couple of notches. What if not only the mother and daughter switched places, but the whole family did? Mum becomes daughter, dad becomes son and the baby becomes the family dog. That's what Family Switch is in a nutshell.

The Yuletide drama is yet another set in December but theoretically could be at any time of year. Or at least any time of year when the planets just happen to align, which while in reality it's impossible, the film has us believe it happens every few hundred years or so.

It's just very unlucky for this family it all happened on the week when mum Jess (Jennifer Garner) is up for a big promotion, dad Bill (Ed Helms) has a shot at playing on TV with his band, daughter CC (Emma Myers) could be selected for the USA's national soccer team and son Wyatt (Brady Moon) has his Yale interview. And as this family of opposites tries to navigate life in each other's shoes, it lays out, what should be, a buffet of comedy bits.

You are always going to compare it to the likes of Freaky Friday - and every other switch film that has come since. And that's part of the problem. If you're taking the same premise, do it well. But in Family Switch it's almost like they don't switch enough. There are times when you find yourself thinking "Wait, did they already switch back and I missed it?"

Will it be something that you can watch with the kids and not feel like you're watching something too cartoonish or cringeworthy? Possibly. Depends on where your festive tolerance lies.

I have a confession. Ever since I saw the 1997 made-for-TV musical Cinderella, I have always seen singer and actress Brandy - who now professionally goes by Brandy Norwood - as the ultimate princess who loses a shoe. Does the film have a stellar cast? Yes. Do I view the film through a nostalgic lens and it's potentially a cringe-worthy film? Definitely. And did this mean I was also excited to see Brandy in Netflix's new festive film, Best. Christmas. Ever!? You bet it did.

Best. Christmas. Ever! is a classic keeping up with the Joneses festive film. It tells the story of Charlotte (Heather Graham), Rob (Jason Biggs) and their two children Dora (Abby Villasmil) and Grant (Wyatt Hunt), who unexpectedly spend the Christmas season with a former college friend, Jackie (Brandy), her husband Valentino (Matt Cedeno) and daughter Beatrix (Madison Skye Validum).

Jackie is the type of person who appears to have the perfect life. An early retirement after making a mint from selling her aviation company, a handsome husband who runs an award-winning karate dojo, a daughter who is the youngest person to attend Harvard and a son busy helping with a humanitarian crisis in Africa. And Charlotte is bitter and jealous about it - something she is forced to face when her son surprises her by putting Jackie's address into the GPS when heading on Christmas holiday, rather than his aunt's.

Not going to lie, it's best to throw caution to the wind and just go with the flow with this one. There are going to be moments - such as the one scene where Heather Graham breaks the fourth wall and then never does again - which are going to make you wonder "What were they thinking?" But it feels like Christmas, and the ending lands somewhere in the middle of "predictable" and "unexpected".