Tradition. I don’t care what anyone says—it isn’t always comforting. Sometimes, it feels stifling. Sometimes, going back to the places everyone insists you should love means revisiting memories you would rather leave alone.
And going home? Well, that can get complicated before an ex-boyfriend even enters the picture.
But if my extensive Hallmark movie education has taught me anything, it’s that the past isn’t always as straightforward as we remember it. The things we wanted to leave behind can look different once we’ve had some distance. That doesn’t erase the hurt or mean leaving was a mistake. Sometimes, we just need a chance to decide what those places—and people—mean to us now.
That’s what has us interested in Friday night’s Countdown to Christmas movie, Winter Wonderlanes. Yes, we’re here for the holiday festivities and the second-chance romance. You know we’re not turning down either. But we’re also here for a woman figuring out whether the life she’s built still gives her everything she wants.
Because there’s a difference between going home out of obligation and choosing to stay.
A Familiar Place—and Some Unfinished Feelings
Audrey Bell (Newbrough), a globe-trotting pop-up restaurateur, returns home for Thanksgiving and learns that Wonderlanes, her late grandfather’s beloved bowling alley, is being sold. She agrees to stay for one final festive season and revive its iconic Winter Wonderlanes youth bowling tournament.
Saving a little holiday magic sounds manageable enough. Working with your high school boyfriend to make it happen? That’s where things get interesting.
To help publicize the tournament, Audrey reluctantly teams up with local news reporter Jason Miller (Lo Presti). And spending that much time together means the feelings they thought they had left behind aren’t staying there.
We do love a reunion that makes people reconsider what they thought they knew about each other. There’s something especially compelling about reconnecting with someone who knew an earlier version of you—and finding out whether there’s room for the people you’ve both become.
For Audrey, though, Jason isn’t the only reason to question her next move. Wonderlanes connects her to her grandfather, her community, and a life she’ll have to decide whether she’s ready to leave again.
That’s the part we’re looking forward to: watching her figure out what she actually wants, beyond what her next job or an old tradition might ask of her. We want the romance, obviously. But we also want her choice to stay—or go—to feel like hers.
CAST
- Audrey Bell: Ashley Newbrough
- Jason Miller: Franco Lo Presti
- Supporting Cast: Nicole Amber Farrugia, Michael Gordin Shore
PHOTOS
PLOT
Audrey Bell (Newbrough) is a globe-trotting pop-up restaurateur who returns home for Thanksgiving to the news that her late grandfather’s beloved bowling alley, Wonderlanes, will be sold. Audrey agrees to stay for one last festive season at Wonderlanes and decides to revive its iconic Winter Wonderlanes youth bowling tournament. To drum up publicity for the event, she reluctantly teams up with Jason Miller (Lo Presti), a local news reporter and her high school boyfriend. Working side by side the embers of their past start flickering, rekindling feelings they thought they left behind. As the tournament draws near, Audrey questions her next move that will take her away from the people and places she loves…and decide if she’s ready to walk away from Wonderlanes – or finally put down roots where her heart truly belongs.
KEY ART
