Disclaimer: I’m a blind film critic.

tis the reason for the season. The Jonas Brothers have come home to Disney Plus for a streaming exclusive romp, but is it going to bring you the holiday cheer? Will it put the egg in your nog? Or will it make a sucker out of you?

This threadbare adventure for Jonas fans sees the brothers trying to get home for the holidays. they play themselves, and Nick is hesitant about extending their current tour. He laments his current predicament to a complete stranger (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), who just simply turns out to be Santa. And now we sidebar. Really? I mean, really? No, really. The casting of Ferguson as Santa is one of, if not the most baffling miscasts of 2025. Ferguson is a wildly talented individual and a killer podcast host, but I can probably come up with a real, full list, of 1,000 actors better suited for Santa. His Modern Family co-star, for example, Eric stonestreet. Or hell, ed O’Neill and even to some extent Ty Burrell. I can’t even imagine how silly he must look.

Heck, considering Will Ferrell’s willingness to cameo, I wonder if swapping his role with Ferguson wouldn’t have also made more sense. He’s played an Elf, now it’s time to play Santa. I could overlook this, if the rest of the film was great, but it is a hodgepodge of random scenarios played as attempts for laughter that mostly don’t work. I say mostly, because watching Nick sing Home alone from Home Alone the Musical is worth checking out. that scene was funny, and the song was absurd.

The problem is, aside from their one hit Christmas song at the start, every other time the Jonas Brothers sing, it isn’t holiday music. It is just some random song from their collection. they couldn’t even fully commit to a Christmas film. Do you not have a Christmas album your fans can buy?

The audio description isn’t quite sure when it can and can’t interject, as it works around the dialogue but also refuses to interrupt the songs. It does nail some of the attempts at bawdy humor, like the shirtless pilot, or the shirt one of the boys wears that says “I don’t give a Shitzu”.

Nick seems like the lead, because he triggered the magic of Santa, but also because (once again) Kevin has nothing to do. Kevin’s entire schtick is working up the courage to ask to sing lead on a song. Meanwhile, recently single Joe Jonas is looking for love, and runs into an old classmate from school. All of these stories, and some goofy side characters try to entertain you. I think the target demographic for this film might forgive a lot, and still see this as a less impressive but still enjoyable effort. However, I’m holding these brothers to a higher standard. If you are going to do a Christmas movie, sing exclusively holiday themed music. You guys are supposedly musicians. if you can’t write 3-5 original songs, or adapt old ones, then don’t make the film.

A Very Jonas Christmas Movie appeals only to die hard fans, as most casual viewers will be disappointed by the decision to sing non-Holiday music, in a Christmas musical.

Rotten: 5.7/10