Netflix’s FROM SCRATCH Parents Guide Review

Netflix’s From Scratch takes viewers on an emotional journey filled with love, loss, family, and sticking together through difficult times. Check out all the details in my parents guide review.

Netflix’s From Scratch dropped on the streaming service last Friday, October 21st. The series is based on the memoir From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home and stars Zoe Saldana (The Guardians of the Galaxy) and newcomer Eugenio Mastrandrea. The story will take viewers on a roller coaster of emotions and pull at all the heart strings. Check out the details in my parents guide review.

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From Scratch Parents Guide

In From Scratch: Inspired by the memoir, From Scratch is a cross-cultural love story that follows Amahle “Amy” Wheeler (played by Zoe Saldaña) an American student studying abroad in Italy, as she meets and falls in love with Lino, a Sicilian chef. Their whirlwind romance faces many unforeseen challenges, including their very different cultural backgrounds; true to real life, it is also infused with lightheartedness and moments of humor that exist alongside the more serious ones. But when Lino is faced with unimaginable health challenges and the couple’s future is threatened, the two families come together to create an extended family unlike any they could have imagined, proving that love crosses all borders.

From Scratch Age Appropriate Parents Guide

Let’s take a look at what parents need to know before letting their kids watch Netflix’s From Scratch.

Language: From Scratch contains strong language and profanity is used throughout. Lookout words include: f*ck, sh*t, d*mn, and more.

Mature Content: The series revolves around a couple who fall in love, get married, and the spouse is diagnosed with cancer, so some scenes showing the spouse going through treatment may be triggering for some viewers. Characters are shown in sexual intercourse, and partial nudity is revealed at that time, such as a view of the side of the breast and buttocks. The characters also consume alcohol and smoke hash.

Overall Thoughts

On the surface, Netflix’s From Scratch feels like it could’ve aired on the Hallmark channel, as it has a “soapy” feel to it. Based on the memoir, the series has a great story that takes viewers on a journey of finding love, starting a family, dealing with illness, and more. It truly has audiences on a roller coaster of emotions, yet is extremely predictable.

One big flaw in From Scratch is that, considering the source material, one would think the series would include many empowering and poetic moments that inspire viewers. However, it concentrates more so on family dynamics, such as the big American family Amy comes from, that involves a zany mother who often butts heads with the stepmother, which seems to go off track from the central story. The chemistry between Zoe Saldana and Eugenio Mastrandrea is natural and authentic, with both giving strong performances. Eugenio Mastrandrea, who plays Lino, is somewhat of a newcomer, yet he does such a phenomenal job in the difficult role he has taken on. He embodies the character and taps into the grief one would feel being in such a position. Saldana doesn’t quite measure up in her role, but that doesn’t mean she does a bad job by any means, playing Amy with a blend of naiveté and aplomb. She has the best intentions and is truly just trying to figure out the best way to make it in the world, often by throwing caution to the wind. In many ways, the show reminds me of Eat Pray Love, without the praying. It is definitely light on humor, plot, and everything in between most of the time, and although there are a few moments that dig deeper, there is never anything too heavy to have to wrap your head around. It is a nice, enjoyable story of love, life, and food revolving around two people from vastly different backgrounds discovering that they really aren’t that different after all.