Disney Plus has this month added the sweetest documentary you will ever see. The Oscar-nominated Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó is streaming now.
Everyone loves their grandma, but I'm happy to announce that the world may just have found the two greatest grandmas of all and they star in a bite-sized documentary added to Disney+ earlier this month.
Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó is only seventeen minutes long, but for 95% of that run time, you will have the biggest smile on your face. This is a beautifully shot slice-of-life story that just speaks to everyone. The titular characters are the paternal and maternal grandmothers of Taiwanese-American director Sean Wang and they are completely and utterly adorable. At 83 and 94 years old, they have more life than someone half their age. With the film nominated for best documentary short, I really hope it wins and we see the dynamic duo up on stage.
It was during the Covid pandemic that Sean moved in with his grandmothers and decided to film them. I don't know if he knew how good they would be on camera but from the first minute of the film, where they are arguing about farting in the bed they share, it's absolute gold. Thank you Disney+ for bringing it to me.
There are plenty of laughs, we see the pair watching the teen comedy Superbad, drinking alcohol from the bottle and getting up to all sorts of mischief. But interspersed with that are nuggets of wisdom from lives well lived and particularly from the older Nǎi Nai, some heartbreaking moments, saying to her grandson "Maybe this is the last time you'll get to be with me."
Watching her stare through a magnifying glass at her friends' phone numbers as she declares that most of them have passed away is enough for anyone to get a bit teary-eyed, but that's not how she wants us to feel. Both are happy to have spent a life well lived (even through hardship) and to take care of each other. And sometimes, they just like to dance.
I hope when I'm 94, I have even a fraction of the sense of humour and happiness of these two heroines, and if you can, go and call your grandma.
