Picture: Netflix
From Madison Wells & Fifth Season, Nonnas is the latest heartfelt film from director Stephen Chbosky (Wonder, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Dear Evan Hansen) on a script from screenwriter Liz Maccie. Netflix won the bidding war for the worldwide rights to the film back in the Fall of 2024 ahead of a potential festival run and will now make its debut on the platform this weekend.
Inspired by the true story of the Staten Island restaurant “Enoteca Maria” that opened in 2007, the film follows blue collar New York City resident Joe Scaravella (played by Wedding Crashers star Vince Vaughn), who was raised in a loving Italian home filled with delicious food from his mother and Nonna. After many years of taking care of his mother, Joe is devastated by her passing and searching for meaning in his grief.
In honor of his late mother and his family legacy of cooking, Joe risks it all by opening an Italian restaurant in Staten Island. Attempting to recreate the atmosphere & authentic Italian cooking from Sunday family dinners at his home, he enlists a crew of Italian grandmothers (Susan Sarandon, Talia Shire, Lorraine Bracco, Brenda Vaccaro), a couple tied to his family of course, to head up the cooking at his establishment.
With no business or restaurant experience, Joe must rely on his vision, the amazing culinary skills of the Nonnas, & his supportive friends and family to help him succeed. But when the locals reject an outsider taking over a famous neighborhood spot and the money starts to dry up, how will Joe and his Nonnas survive to cook another day?
Nonnas. Vince Vaughn as Joe Scaravella in Nonnas. Cr. Netflix © 2025.
Alongside Vaughn & his star-studded cast of Italian grandmothers, Nonnas co-stars Joe Manganiello (True Blood, One Piece) as Joe’s best friend Bruno, Drea de Matteo (The Sopranos) as Bruno’s wife Stella, Michael Rispoli (Rounders, The Sopranos) as Al, & Linda Cardellini (Dead To Me, No Good Deed) as Joe’s childhood crush Olivia.
The film is a sweet, simple, & sentimental family dramedy that doesn’t lean too heavily into the laughs or the love as much as just the basics of living with loss and finding joy in the present.
Each character seems to be reeling from a major life change; whether it’s Joe and the loss of his mother, Olivia still wearing the wedding ring of her deceased husband, or Talia Shire’s Teresa mourning the life she could have had if she felt accepted as her true self before joining the convent, Nonnas seemingly throws together a found family for people who truly need it.
Picture: Netflix
The film shines the more they lean into the Nonnas themselves as they, more than anyone in the film, need to overcome one of the hardest things late in life: stagnation. Four Italian women, each with a reason to try this new adventure and possibly many reasons to keep the status quo until the end of days. Loss of a partner, aching bodies, lack of enthusiasm for new things in life – these are the obstacles we all put in the way of potentially meaningful moments in our lives and the Nonnas are no different. Scenes like the kitchen scene when they first meet Sarandon’s Gia (and her more flamboyant body) or when the ladies prepare for opening night with makeovers at Gia’s salon are some of the most introspective moments in the film. Sarandon & Shire give the film life & humor beyond the occasional shouting matches between Bracco & Vaccaro.
While there is no doubt the film will be a hit with older audiences and Italian-American families across the country, the film does suffer at times under its straight-to-streaming/second screening pace and lack of verve for a movie billed largely as a comedy. No bigger example of this is the sore thumb performance from the normally loud, cocky, & foul-mouthed Vince Vaughn, who hasn’t been in a PG movie since Fred Claus almost 20 years ago. His register as a grieving son and understanding boss is adequate, but nothing more as it most certainly doesn’t play to any of his more mature audience charms & playful snark that we’ve come to love.
But, overall, Nonnas tugs on just enough heartstrings and fills our senses with just enough food porn & maternal romanticism to give us the warm-blanket familial feelings people make seek on Mother’s Day weekend and beyond. Strong performances from Sarandon & Shire in particular give the movie some bounce when desperately needed. Netflix was right to outbid the competition for this one as it will play quite well to their audience in a perfect time of year.
Watch Nonnas If You Liked
- Big Night
- Return To Me
- The Perks of Being A Wallflower
- La Dolce Villa
MVP of Nonnas
The Nonnas (Sarandon, Bracco, Shire, & Vaccaro)
Nonnas. (L-R) Susan Sarandon as Gia, Brenda Vaccaro as Antonella, Lorraine Bracco as Roberta and Talia Shire as Teresa in Nonnas. Cr. Jeong Park/Netflix © 2025.
Groups of veteran actresses sharing experiences and having fun are rarer than you think in Hollywood, but they almost always seem to deliver. The most recent work of the likes of Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, & others (Judi Dench & Maggie Smith across the pond perhaps) seem to be delighting underserved audiences for some time now.
So it’s nice to see that even in a small Netflix dramedy, we can bask in the eternal greatness of the likes of Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Louise, Stepmom), Talia Shire (Rocky, The Godfather), Lorraine Bracco (Goodfellas, “The Sopranos”), & Brenda Vaccaro (Nominated for Tony, Oscar, & Emmy over a 60 year career). Providing most of the levity & verve in the film, these 4 women are the backbone of the story and the reliable anchor to Joe’s emotional arc.
Just in time for Mother’s Day, Nonnas gives a family friendly, sentimental homage to the power of mothers and the legacies they leave behind.
Rating: PG
