Every week, Netflix unveils its Top 10 lists for the week before, ranking TV shows and movies by viewership. This week, the Vince Vaughn film Nonnas has grabbed the No. 1 spot on the top 10 list, and judging from my latest group chat with my mom and her friends, the film is getting high approval ratings from the very demographic in its title, the Italian nonnas.
I know this because my own mother is a nonna (she’s Nana, officially), and judging from our weekend group chat, she and her tight-knit group of friends (also included in said chat) watched this movie as soon as it premiered, and they loved it. It’s no coincidence that the movie, which is essentially a love letter to one man’s mom and grandmother, was released on Mother’s Day weekend.
In the film, Vaughn plays Joe, a Brooklyn man whose mother has recently passed away. Joe finds comfort in re-creating his mother’s and grandmother’s old recipes and savoring the flavors of his childhood. That gives him the idea to bring the same comfort to others by opening a restaurant where he serves up these dishes, cooked by his mom’s oldest friends (played by a powerhouse quartet of actresses: Susan Sarandon, Talia Shire, Brenda Vaccaro and Lorraine Bracco).
Nonnas came out on Friday. By 11 p.m. that night, my mother had already sent a message to her children and closest friends with the message, “Just watched a movie based on a true story about love, food and family called Nonnas on Netflix. Hopefully you’ll laugh, cry, and feel joy! And I’m sure you will all relate to the theme!” A classic mom text to be sure! By Saturday morning, the responses from her friends had already rolled in that they, too, had already watched the movie and loved it. All these nonnas, Nonna-ing it up on premiere night!
The movie evokes so many images that women of this generation of Italian Americans grew up with: crucifixes in every room of the house, pasta left to dry on laundry racks, cutlets being pounded out to the perfect thickness. While plenty of movies depict the Italian American experience, it’s rare that the stories are told from the grandmother’s point of view. I can promise you my mom hasn’t seen Bracco as Karen Hill in Goodfellas, but she can definitely relate to Bracco’s character, Roberta, here.
It’s not a surprise that Vaughn’s name recognition has led this film to a big opening weekend. He and his co-stars are a talented group of actors, and the movie leans heavy into Vaughn’s charm and the theme of finding hope and purpose in the face of grief. But for the moms and grandmas on the group chat, the movie holds a mirror up to their own lives: What part of Italy is your family from? You use sugar in your Sunday gravy? You buy your sausages where? It’s a specific audience to cater to, but the film does just that. While the nonnas in my group chat hail from Boston, not Brooklyn, there’s a familiarity and universality to the cultural and gastronomic experience that transcends state lines. (And while the mother-son narrative of the film is a huge part of its appeal, I’ll take this moment to suggest that if you loved watching the actual cooking scenes, you’ll probably love the newly released Marcella, available on demand now, about chef Marcella Hazan, who revolutionized Italian cooking for many Americans.)
Nonnas is No. 1 on the Netflix Top 10 because it’s a sweet, sentimental movie with endearing performances from its cast. But for a film to get the approval of not just one but a whole group of opinionated Italian nonnas? That’s high praise indeed.
