Get your tissues ready. Netflix’s From Scratch, starring Zoe Saldaña, Keith David, and Eugenio Mastrandrea is based on a true story of love and loss.
From Scratch is a romantic drama about an American law school dropout who meets a Sicilian chef while studying art abroad in Italy. The couple falls in love and decides to pursue a future together while they pursue their dreams. Amy, played by Zoe Saldaña, chooses to stay in Italy to be with her lover, Lino (Eugenio Mastrandrea). Still, after living together in Italy, Amy decides to move back to the United States with Lino. After many growing pains and financial hardships, the couple’s luck starts to change when Lino gets an opportunity to own a restaurant, and Amy starts to excel at her job in an upscale art gallery. The couple’s achievements are short-lived when cancer attacks Lino’s knee, threatening his life and putting a strain on his marriage.
At first glance, From Scratch appears to be your typical romantic drama. We have a couple with many odds stacked against them from the gate. They are from different countries, with different cultures and different ethnic backgrounds. Their families don’t believe in the relationship, Lino struggles with acclimating to the foreign country he now calls home, and the couple constantly faces tough financial decisions. The way this story follows the couple’s strife sets it apart from many romantic dramas that Netflix tries to impress upon its viewers. From Scratch does not focus on the romance of their relationship. Instead, it follows real-life struggles of maintaining relationships when nothing goes as planned.
Neither of their families believes the couple will last – mainly because they are in an interracial relationship. Amy and Lino also struggle when they return to the states, forcing them to live with Amy’s sister, Zora (Danielle Deadwyler), while they both take dead-end jobs. Ultimately, Amy’s family comes around when Amy’s father and mother (portrayed by Keith David and Kellita Smith) get to know Lino better. Still, Lino’s family excommunicates him for failing to take over the family farm. Lino and Amy’s family come together when Lino receives his first cancer diagnosis. Through both families’ newfound support of the marriage (and Lino), the couple finds stability and some refuge from the illness that nearly pulls the spouses apart. The focus on family and community is something you rarely, if ever, see in romantic films.
Lino and Amy try to remain optimistic, but cancer forces them to face a reality that neither ever wanted to face. The series stands out because of how each character processes Lino and Amy’s relationship. The support and perspective of family and friends keep Amy and Lino going when they are unable to fully deal with their circumstances as a couple. It’s the community around them that keeps the couple going when they have a hard time navigating Lino’s diagnosis. The mini-series remains grounded by framing the story around the couple and their family. Unlike most romantic dramas, we can see how a couple’s hardship affects the ones that love them the most. It also shows how much they needed the support of their families to help them overcome the challenges in their marriage.
From Scratch is not your typical romantic love story – it’s a real love story. The first few episodes are material made for happily ever afters, but this series challenges us to follow the love story beyond the typical “happy ending” into authentic, unconditional love. Real love.
From Scratch is currently streaming on Netflix.