Nonnas (2025) Review!!

Synopsis – After losing his beloved mother, a man risks everything to honor her by opening an Italian restaurant with actual grandmothers as the chefs.

My Take – In a time when streaming platforms are mostly flooded with standard high-octane action blockbusters, haphazard comedies and mid-thrillers week after week, here comes a Netflix original that manages to be fresh yet feel very familiar with its large name-brand cast.

A straightforward yet satisfying fact-based crowd-pleaser that is so simple, definitely cheesy, and leaves you with a sense of nostalgia. And most importantly acts as a love letter to the matriarchs who are the heart and soul of broad communities, whose main love language is food.

Inspired by an actual Staten Island based restaurant named Enoteca Maria which for the past 15 years has been recruiting local grandmothers to be their chefs, the heart-warming story absolutely touched my heart and soul, and made me think of how much I miss the cooking of my mother and grandmothers.

Sure, the narrative is not exactly groundbreaking, but it has a gentle and restorative quality that’s hard to come by these days. It celebrates tradition, food, family, and, above all, the wisdom and spirit of older women who are often sidelined in mainstream storytelling.

It’s comforting without being excessively sweet, emotional without being manipulative, and effortless in the best possible way. A warm, nourishing hug of a film. Like any good meal, its best savored slowly, surrounded by good company, and definitely not to be watched on an empty stomach.

The story follows Joe (Vince Vaughn), a middle-aged bus mechanic with New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority who is still grappling with the grief of losing his mother and is left feeling confused, questioning what to do with himself and his life going forward. In an effort to hold on to her memory, he turns to the comfort of her cooking and stumbles upon a rather unusual idea: buy a closed-down restaurant for sale in Staten Island from his mother’s insurance money.

Though he’s a decent cook, having watched and learned in the kitchen for most of his life, Joe has never owned or even worked in a restaurant and has zero experience in the hospitality industry. But he does have a novel concept i.e. hire local grandmothers to work in the kitchen and serve delicious and crafted-with-love Italian dishes that were a tent pole of his happy childhood.

Enlisting the help of his best friend Bruno (Joe Manganiello) and his wife Stella (Drea de Matteo) to set-up the place, Joe recruits a friend of his mother, Roberta (Lorraine Bracco), and then Antonella (Brenda Vaccaro), a widow who he encounters at an outdoor market which he used to visit with his nonna and mom, and has been under the care of Olivia (Linda Cardellini), Joe’s former prom date turned law student. Soon enough they are joined by former nun Teresa (Talia Shire) and saucy beautician and cannoli master Gia (Susan Sarandon).

But of course, things don’t go as smoothly as he hoped. The Nonnas bicker. There’s a kitchen fire. An unscrupulous inspector cites the premise with multiple violations. Perhaps most crippling, there’s a boycott of the restaurant by locals who resent outsider Joe taking over a popular neighborhood spot. But what begins as a coping mechanism quickly becomes a celebration of heritage, healing, and the flavors that connect generations.

Here, director Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Wonder) directs with a gentle hand, allowing the emotional beats to rise organically while layering the story with rich sensory details, steaming plates of delicious looking Italian food, and handwritten recipes passed down through generations. The tone stays grounded, and the pacing, while deliberate, suits the film’s gentle rhythm. Which really comes into its own in the quiet moments — a shared meal, a gentle pep talk, and the determination of the grandmothers.

The film isn’t just about food it’s about honoring the past while building something new from the ruins of loss. The true story at the film’s core adds weight and authenticity, elevating what could have been a sentimental tale into something genuinely soulful.

While I wasn’t expecting it to come near the high bar set by the recent other cookery classics like Julie & Julia (2009) and Chef (2014), the narrative could have added more sequences focusing on the process of preparing these gorgeous looking dishes. There’s just about enough of the sensual pleasures of food to make us hungry but not quite as much detail as I would have liked.

Nevertheless, director Chbosky and writer Liza Maccie make us genuinely care about what happens to the business. Even when the final act is as formulaic as possible, there’s a refreshing lack of unnecessary added conflict. It remains grounded and when the wins come, it feels deserved.

What particularly elevates the experience is the cast. Vince Vaughn sheds his usual fast-talking persona for a performance rooted in quiet grief and reluctant hope. He plays Joe with a quiet sincerity that’s believable and doesn’t play up the emotion, which makes his turn feel even more genuine.

Without a doubt, his chemistry with the nonnas, played brilliantly by Susan Sarandon, Lorraine Bracco, Talia Shire and Brenda Vaccaro, is the emotional heart of the film. These women, each with their own culinary traditions and personal histories, bring warmth, humor, and a raw honesty to every kitchen scene. Watching them bicker, laugh, and bond over saucepans and rolling pins is simply entertaining and deeply moving.

In supporting turns, Linda Cardellini brings exactly the right balance of warmth and wit as Olivia, Joe Manganiello is very likable as Bruno the best friend who’s more like a brother, and Drea de Matteo is solid as the dependable Stella. On the whole, ‘Nonnas‘ is a heartwarming and entertaining comedy drama that acts as a beautiful tribute to love, loss, and the power of food.