A Very Jonas Christmas Movie Parent Guide

The Jonas Brothers (Joe, Nick, and Kevin playing themselves) have just wrapped their last show of the year in London, and the next day the three men will go their separate ways to spend the holidays with their families. But tensions have been high between the three of them, and their fraternal bond is at a breaking point. After a chance encounter with a mysterious old man (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), every attempt to head home starts to go wrong. First their private plane explodes, then their train to Paris ends up in Amsterdam, and every flight out of Europe seems to be booked solid. The more the brothers try to get away from each other, the more they seem to be stuck together. Can they break through their differences and rediscover what it means to be family in time to get home for Christmas?

As a certified Millennial, the Jonas Brothers were a huge part of my teen years, from CDs to posters, to music videos, and even their short-lived Disney Channel sitcom. I may be an adult now, but that hasn’t changed my soft spot for those boys. More importantly, as an adult I have a deep appreciation for self-aware comedies whose only purpose is to be fun. And that’s what A Very Jonas Christmas Movie is - 80 minutes of unabashed fun.

Aside from being shockingly well written, what makes this movie work is that the brothers are always in on the joke. They constantly make fun of themselves, never their fans or their families. The writers strike a perfect balance between meta-jokes about the brothers and good old-fashioned silliness. Jokes aside, the story is simple but effective. Although we all know how it’s going to end, the journey to get there is well worth it. Eighty minutes is the perfect runtime for this story, providing enough time for the emotional beats to land, but no extra space to overstay its welcome. This film is also a musical (unsurprisingly), and the songs are pretty good, backed up with solid choreography and performances.

I am square in the target demographic for this production, so my enthusiasm may not translate to all audiences, but I had a fantastic time. Young audiences won’t get a lot of the jokes, and parents should note some mild profanity, a scene where two adults strip to their underwear to jump in a river, and a scene in a bar where Santa has a beer in front of him. Although it is rated PG and has no more negative content concerns than most Christmas classics, this film was obviously made with an older demographic in mind, so it may be a better choice for a girl’s night rather than family movie night. I absolutely loved it and plan to watch it again with some close friends, but my nine-year-old was indifferent to the whole production. If you’re looking to get into the holiday spirit and share some laughs, A Very Jonas Christmas Movie might be just what you’re looking for.

About author

Savannah Sillito

Savannah Sillito is a librarian with a master's in library science, a bachelor's degree in English, and a certificate in early childhood education. She enjoys nonfiction books, travel, and is a staunch proponent of the Oxford comma.