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Nonnas is a 2025 comedy-drama movie directed by Stephen Chbosky and written by Liz Maccie. It features Vince Vaughn, Lorraine Bracco, Talia Shire, Brenda Vaccaro, Linda Cardellini, and Susan Sarandon.
It is the true account of Staten Island Enoteca Maria owner Joe Scaravella, who has the courage to dedicate a restaurant to his deceased mother by staffing it with actual grandmothers as chefs.
After the loss of his mother, Joe Scaravella is motivated by recollections of preparing food with his mother and nonna when he was young. He launches Enoteca Maria, a Staten Island eatery run by grandmothers preparing traditional Italian fare.
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Despite initial adversity and tensions between the nonnas, the community reunites in food and camaraderie. With the help of friends, Joe prevails against adversity and builds a restaurant that will enable his family to continue their heritage and unite the community.
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The movie has inter-generational connections that instill hope and unity but also deals with loss and healing. If viewers like stories of hope, culture, or uplifting moments, Nonnas is a moving experience.
Disclaimer: The following list is ranked in no particular order, and the opinions expressed belong solely to the author.
An exploration of Italian cuisine and 6 other reasons to watch Netflix’s Nonnas
1) Nonnas celebrates Italian culture through its soundtrack
The movie taps into the core of Italian-American society by not just referencing the preeminence of food but also the music that creates a generational divide.
Just as much as the movie opens up dialogue about how traditions are preserved through food culture, it features old Italian and Italian-American music that is immediately remembered in recollection of those who lived in or near the community.
Songs such as Rita Pavone's Viva La Pappa Col Pomodoro and Billy Joel's Scenes from an Italian Restaurant highlight how music, like food, is a strong indicator of cultural identity and continuity.
The soundtrack of the movie takes its story a step further as it describes how Italian-American songs portray the evolving story of the community. Such songs don't merely create atmosphere, they recall memories, emotions, and a sense of belonging.
It is through the concepts of love, loss, and communal support that the music holds everything together and reminds us that Italian-American traditions are not just sustained by what gets handed down over the dinner table, but by those melodies and lyrics that strike a common chord.
2) A celebration of friendship
Perhaps the most compelling element of the movie is seeing the women grow to be friends in spite of themselves. What begins as friendly one-upmanship about whose dinner is better over time becomes a heartwarming tale of friendship.
When the nonnas meet at Enoteca Maria, their passion for cooking and living allows them to break past competition to connection, and the movie's lesson that friendships may flower in midlife is revealed.
One of the most powerful moments is when the women discuss how hard it has been to cope with their families, and especially troubled relationships with their children. On this open and vulnerable ground, they find comfort in each other.
Despite all they have faced, their growing friendships in Nonnas offer hope and healing—a warm reminder that everyone, at any age, needs connection.
3) An exploration of Italian cuisine
The movie offers a rich and detailed look at the diversity of Italian cuisine, especially as it has been preserved and adapted by Italian-American families. The movie emphasizes that food is far more than sustenance, it is a language of love, tradition, and identity.
By featuring nonnas from different regions, the story showcases the variety within Italian and Italian-American cooking, illustrating how each dish tells a unique story tied to family, memory, and heritage.
From bold foods like roasted sheep head to comfort foods like manicotti, Nonnas commends how Italian-Americans have, over the years, remade regional foods in their own style. The movie shows how passing down and evolving recipes is a labor of love and strength, emphasizing Italian food’s cultural and emotional roots.
4) A tribute to aging and visibility
The movie is unique for its emphasis on older women who, while sometimes marginalized by society, are rich in talent, and experience. Since the nonnas are invited by Joe to assist with running the restaurant, it is evident that they have been waiting for such an opportunity to unleash their best.
They take up the challenge with vigour, demonstrating that age doesn't matter when it comes to creativity or motivation. Their passion and expertise prove that they never lost the spark in them, only never had the platform to shine upon.
The movie gives them space to reflect on past struggles and embrace a new chapter, celebrating their strength and proving that value grows with age.
5) Food as a vessel for memory
Nonnas immaculately portrays the way in which food is such an emotive and enduring conduit for memory and cultural heritage. Through constructing his restaurant, Joe forms close bonds with the nonnas, who each invest hundreds of hours of know-how and emotion into their cooking.
Through their laboriously developed dishes, the nonnas preserve personal and cultural histories and unite individuals across generations. Even though their families are increasingly Americanized, these recipes are a direct connection to their Italian roots.
To nonnas, food is not just tradition, it is heritage. Every woman views her cooking as a means of paying respect to the past, navigating the trauma of immigration, and leaving her legacy. The movie shows how food carries emotional strength, healing, and identity, turning memories into lasting nourishment for the future.
6) The power of intergenerational bonds
At its core, the movie is a story of empowerment that transcends generations. Joe's need to serve the women of his mother's generation as a tribute to their legacy initiates the stages for improbable friendship.
In the process of cooking and teamwork, Joe and the nonnas find that they have much to exchange with each other—cultural heritage merging with new vision as the restaurant comes together. Their relationship serves to illustrate how valuable relationships can form amidst age differences if there is respect and a shared objective.
The movie shows that generations share more in common than they seem. Joe and the nonnas’ collaboration proves that blending perspectives creates something special—great food and a lasting legacy.
7) An authentic portrait of grief
What makes the movie stand out is its honest and unobtrusive exploration of loss. Instead of providing a neat or exploitative ending, the movie traces Joe as he comes to terms with losing his mom by attempting to learn her recipe and start a restaurant in her memory.
His loss informally pervades his daily life and identity, and the movie gives that loss space without hurrying along. In the process, Joe derives significance in preserving her memory, a task that turns out to be both therapeutic and dignifying.
Through connections with the nonnas, each carrying their own stories of loss, the film offers an honest, relatable look at how Joe copes with losing a parent by finding community and preserving memories.
Interested viewers can watch Nonnas on Netflix.
