Love Italian Food and Vince Vaughn? You Need to Watch This New Movie

We could all use something to brighten our days a little right now. Between the price of eggs and tariffs threatening to make our favorite wines more expensive, the kind of entertainment I’m seeking is heartwarming, funny, and — ideally — inspiring. This is exactly why Nonnas is the feel-good film I needed.

Coming to Netflix on May 9, this comedy set in New York City celebrates Italian food and family. Vince Vaughn stars as Joe Scaravella, an MTA employee who decides to open his own Italian restaurant after his mother passes away. The twist? The chefs at Scaravella’s restaurant will all be Italian grandmothers — hence the title “Nonnas,” which means “grandmothers” in Italian — cooking the dishes passed down through their families.

Vaughn is joined by a star-studded cast that includes Susan Sarandon, Lorraine Bracco, Joe Manganiello, Talia Shire, Brenda Vaccaro, and Linda Cardellini. The emphasis on family underlying Nonnas even begins with its creative team — the film is directed by Stephen Chbosky, known for his work on The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and the screenplay is written by Liz Maccie, who happens to be Chbosky’s wife.

The couple and their cast collaborated seamlessly, with Chbosky telling Food & Wine, “I think [what] Liz did very well, and the actors certainly helped enormously, was making sure that every character in the movie had a distinct personality…

There’s a family of these characters and they form this family, but each individual person is as important as the whole. And I thought that was a very challenging thing to do, but Liz did a really great job and the actors executed it brilliantly.”

Nonnas isn’t overly sentimental; rather, it focuses on simple moments that demonstrate the power of food to deliver joy and show love. For instance, all the Italian women in Joe’s life bring him food at his mother’s funeral as a form of solace, ranging from stuffed shells to sweet cassata.

The movie’s emotions and message feel authentic, likely because it’s based on a true story. Joe Scaravella is a real person, and his restaurant Enoteca Maria — which shares the same name in the film — is located on Staten Island, where a rotating lineup of grandmothers from around the world cooks their own cuisine each week.

Even Bruno, Joe’s best friend and a contractor played by Joe Manganiello, is part of the true story of Enoteca Maria. Manganiello recalls dining at the restaurant with Vaughn, telling Food & Wine “Going to eat at Enoteca Maria was awesome. Vince and I went for dinner one night to meet up with the actual Joe and Bruno, the real-life Joe and Bruno…

We had dinner with them, and all the grandmas cooked us food and came out and made sure that everything was good and that we liked it. And so it was such a fun experience.”

Even in its most touching or tense moments, Nonnas manages to sprinkle humor throughout. The banter between Italian grandmas is one of the highlights — their bickering culminates in a food fight — and you’ll come to understand the extent of the rivalry between different Italian regions.

From the relationship between Joe and Bruno to the way all the nonnas bond despite their regional pride, Nonnas centers on connections between people. This even extends to those who have passed away, as Joe seeks to remember his mother and grandmother through their recipes. 

As Maccie explains, “Family comes in many shapes, sizes, forms. It’s not just the people that share your blood… Family is community. It’s a coming together…. I grew up in a very Italian American family, and food was literally another language we spoke. So it was a way of expressing love on the most primal level, and I think food is a great way to bring family together and to care for each other.”