Netflix took an interest in the true life story about the Arizona grandma who accidentally invited a stranger to Thanksgiving and is making a feature film about it. And the grandma says, “We are so blessed.”
The Thanksgiving Text
This month, Netflix announced their newest feature movie, “The Thanksgiving Text.” It recounts the unexpected friendship between Wanda Dench and Jamal Hinton, who was still 17-years-old when they first met.
In 2016, the elderly sent a text message to the wrong number on Thanksgiving day, intended for her grandson. But instead, she accidentally sent it to a stranger.
Meanwhile, Jamal was sitting in his class when he received a surprising text message from a stranger who claimed to be his grandma. Thus, he replied with a selfie, informing her he wasn’t her grandson. But Jamal still asked if he could join them for Thanksgiving dinner and the kindhearted grandma accepted him.
“Of course you can. That’s what grandmas do…feed everyone!” Wanda told Jamal heartwarmingly back then.

Twitter | Jamal Hinton
Netflix Will Make A Movie
Since then, the grandma and the teen built friendship and treated each other like family. Also, today, both are still celebrating Thanksgiving together for the sixth year in a row.
Thanksgiving 2021 pic.twitter.com/2Ff3PpvvVY
— Jamal Hinton (@Jamalhinton12) November 25, 2021
It’s amazing how the unintentional text message turned into a beautiful friendship. And perhaps that’s how Netflix took notice of their true life story and invited them to make a movie from it.
“We are excited to share our story with the world,” Wanda and Jamal excitingly said in a statement. “Hope it inspires more people to reach out and make connections that they wouldn’t ordinarily make. We are so blessed to find a genuine friendship brought together by God from a mistaken text message.”
This is year 6❤️
Wanda & Jamal still celebrate Thanksgiving together after the mistaken 2016 text.
Today I sat down with them for a personal interview reflecting on the past, joy & loss, and what’s to come for the two of them.@Jamalhinton12 @wandadench https://t.co/rIF0s9a49T pic.twitter.com/BUPlzzqaG5
— Briana Whitney (@BrianaWhitney) November 25, 2021
According to Variety,” “The Thanksgiving Text” will be written by Abdul Williams and produced by Robert Teitel and George Tillman Jr. Its film executive producer is Lawrence Mott.