Nona and Her Daughters

Debut French series enchants, speaks to womanhood and family.

In May, MHz Choice is debuting an enchanting French limited series, Nona and Her Daughters. The streaming service features international mysteries, dramas and comedies from more than 30 countries. 

The series announcement came with high recommendation; “the story speaks so directly to the woman of an older generation, within the context of today’s generation.” Intrigued, I checked it out and am thrilled I did so.

Nona and Her Daughters, created by actress and director Valérie Donzelli, is a joyful and refreshing tale about motherhood and the female experience. Donzelli acts in, and makes her television directorial debut, with this graceful comedy about the improbable and mysterious pregnancy of a sexually active septuagenarian grandmother, and her adult triplet daughters.

Venerable actress and ten-time César Award nominee, Miou-Miou stars as family matriarch, Nona, who runs the Goutte d’Or family planning clinic in Paris. Soon after discovering Nona’s pregnancy, her 44-year-old daughters return to stay at family apartment at the foot of Montmartre in a show of support: Gabrielle (Clotilde Hesme, Lupin), the uptight sexologist; Emanuelle (Virginie Ledoyen, The Beach), who did everything she could to disavow her feminist mother; and George (Donzelli, Shelter), the virgin and doctoral student who refuses to leave childhood behind.

The nine episode, female lead production also includes an ensemble of male roles — the comical doctor, the devoted midwife, the clumsy secret lover, the unstable researcher and the baffled husband.

This is a magical story about disarming motherhood, feminism and family. Straight into the first episode we discover Nona lives a secret bliss with André Breton, George’s thesis director. The  drama-comedy’s quick action — and clear, bold subtitles — keep you curious and engaged as this family navigates increasingly challenging and hilarious scenarios. 

When Nona is told by Doctor Truffe that she is pregnant we see both her vulnerability and strength emerge, even as she remains silent. Truffe also confirmed that André is not the father of the baby. Since Nona is determined to keep up her work, her doctor assigns her a male midwife, Paou, to stay with her. Nona’s daughters, each who inherited a male nickname, are quick to discover her pregnancy. As Gabrielle (Gaby) and Emmanuelle (Manu) move back in, Nona finds her daily life is again disrupted.

Nona, a free-thinking feminist with activist roots who raised her triplets on her own, is also a caring and sharp facilitator at the clinic for the patients she serves. Her essence isn’t lost on her daughters, even as they occasionally stumble through their own lives nurturing their idiosyncrasies. 

The series is a worthy one to indulge in for everyone. It discusses sovereignty and an unfettered spirit. But I’d venture that many people will especially appreciate Nona’s direct and innate egalitarian qualities.  

Soon into things, a supernatural angle manifests in Nona’s pregnancy, which sends sister George into investigative mode. Stay home mom, Manu, takes a page from her mothers independent nature and steps in brilliantly, as Nona, in an administrative emergency at the clinic. Gaby, through her own vulnerability, is unexpectedly thrust into a way to connect to Nona.  

The men in the series are not just simple characters. Paou, Nona’s attractive German midwife, helps bring the children into the world because he cannot have them himself. George’s friend Antoine sacrifices his private life for research. Emmanuele (Manu’s husband) clumsily but earnestly supports his wife and wants their marriage to work. André loves Nona, and is ready to do anything he can for her well-being.

Nona’s home, a warm, small interior, is filled with decorations made of odds and ends. Donzelli utilizes theatrical and cinematic features minimally within the series, like sung sequences or narration while the actors hold static poses and on occasion, the performers will speak directly to the viewer. 

Donzelli considers motherhood as both a “super-power and a super poison” and created the series as a way to develop many characters and stories to explore familial relationships over the long term. Nona and Her Daughters makes an entrance at an important time for not only women but humanity. It has very important, moving things to say about motherhood, the female sex and bodily sovereignty.

Details: https://mhzchoice.com/nona-and-her-daughters/