Mia Meijer (Christa Taylor Brown) is confident that her Oma, Ann (Marcia Bennett), is going to win the town’s Christmas Market Dutch Bake-Off but in the lead-up to it, she’s dealt a surprise when Ann announces that she has sold the land deed to their Windmill Way property. Having been in the family for generations, Mia is devastated and things are made worse when the property developer turns out to be her teenage boyfriend Brady (Chad Michael Murray), who ditched her while they were dating. Brady’s arrival brings further bad news when he tells Mia that the family-owned Dutch sawmill is going to be torn down to make way for a luxurious estate. Can she save it before it’s too late?
‘Christmas On Windmill Way’ is the kind of film that feels so familiar, you can slip right into it like it’s a comfort blanket. Property developers planning to steamroll over small-town history is a staple of the holiday movie, and that plot device is utilised well here. The added complication, of course, is that Mia has unresolved feelings for Brady and his return to the town throws her world into chaos. On the one hand she wants to save the sawmill and get the deed back for Windmill Way, but on the other she realises that the feelings for Brady that she thought were in the past are still there bubbling under the surface.
Brady initially gets a very frosty reception from both Mia and her best friend Lily (Erin Agostino), who is married to Brady’s childhood friend Willem (Jon McLaren). With Brady and Mia having very different versions of what happened in their past, the two try to be civil with one another. Mia tries everything she can to protect the sawmill so that even if the development goes ahead, that part of the town’s history is preserved. She attempts to appeal to Brady, but he’s in a tough spot given that he’s overseeing the potential development and he’s battling his own unresolved feelings.
Christa Taylor Brown and Chad Michael Murray are perfectly cast as Mia and Brady. They can veer from bickering with one another to having sizzling chemistry in an instant, and you believe that they were once childhood sweethearts. Taylor Brown gives a particularly strong performance as the sweet and family-devoted Mia. The audience will be on her side from the start and despite Michael Murray’s charms, they’ll stick with Mia until the very end.
‘Christmas On Windmill Way’ uses a tried and tested formula to deliver an entertaining and engaging story, with a sweet hook. Everything feels very sweet and lovely, even with the destruction of the sawmill hanging over the town, and the film hits enough of the right beats to keep you watching until the end. It may not have much in the way of surprises but the familiarity works in its favour, as do the winning performances from the two leads.
Cast: Christa Taylor Brown, Chad Michael Murray, Erin Agostino, Marcia Bennett, Jon McLaren Director: Don McBrearty Writer: Billy Schofield Certificate: Unrated Duration: 85 mins Released by: Great American Family Release date: 2nd December 2023
Find out more about ‘Christmas On Windmill Way’ by heading over to https://www.greatamericanfamily.com/movie/christmas-on-windmill-way/
