“You feel beautiful when you’re seen, when you feel heard, when you feel strong – that’s when you feel beautiful.” Sounds a lot like something we would say at Studio10, don’t you think? But, in fact, it’s a quote from Susan Sarandon’s character, Gia, in Nonnas, the new Netflix drama that delivers far more than I was expecting on the subject of ageing with fierce pride.      

In case you don’t know, a nonna is an Italian grandmother, a stereotypical “old woman” (she’s probably about 50) dressed in black who spends most of her time in the kitchen – after all, what else is there to do at this stage in your life? – preparing food with love for her family. Stephen Chbosky’s Nonnasturns this idea on its head, showing us older women who might start out feeling that life has little left to give, but who end up finding joy not just in the kitchen but in the idea that their skills and wisdom are worth celebrating.

Vince Vaughn stars as Joe, who, mourning the death of both his nonna and then his mother, decides to use the money from their life insurance to open a restaurant in Staten Island (sounds unlikely, I know, but it’s based on a true story). He recruits four women to cook: his mother’s best friend, Roberta (Lorraine Bracco); her hairdresser, Gia (Susan Sarandon); a neighbourhood stalwart, Antonella (Brenda Vaccaro); and a retired nun, Teresa (Talia Shire).

What an incredibly fierce cast of actors. The story might at times feel like old hat, but these four play it in a way that’s fresh, engaging and with the firepower of literally hundreds of years of acting experience. Vaccaro’s career goes back to the 1950s, Shire’s to the 1960s. Sarandon made her screen debut in 1970, while Bracco is a relative newcomer, arriving in 1979.

How do you sum up the careers of these four incredible women? Sarandon is an Oscar winner and a cultural icon. Bracco played therapist Dr Jennifer Melfi in The Sopranos. Shire broke through in The Godfather, directed by her brother Francis Ford Coppola. And Vaccaro earned an Academy Award nomination for Midnight Cowboy. Yet none of them has had a massive hit of late, which makes me wonder if Nonnas isn’t just about their characters celebrating a newfound vigour, but the actors themselves. Either way, it’s not something we see often on screen.

Yet the film also reminds us of the downsides: the negative ways that society can cause women in midlife and beyond to feel. “We are discarded old artefacts... we are unimportant, insignificant,” says Antonella at one point. But “You deserve to be great,” says Joe.

We all deserve to be great – and to be celebrated as women in midlife and beyond. Nonnas demonstrates that with a fierceness I love – and that reminds me of my lovely mother, who was Portuguese, but who shared the same warmth and strength of character as the women represented here.

So join me in celebrating the idea of “the new nonna” – long may she reign.