#FIRSTLOOK: “MIND YOUR MANNERS” WITH SARA JANE HO

If you’ve never heard of her prior, Sara Jane Ho is about to change your world and bring etiquette back with upcoming Netflix Series MIND YOUR MANNERS. The Harvard alumni has found much success with her Institute Sarita, which coaches her students to being their best selves, with a philosophy that etiquette is about being mindful of others around you, and making them at ease.

We watch as she travels to different cities, really taking to understand new students she takes under her wings and laying-out what obstacles are holding them back from becoming their best selves. In the first episode we meet a young woman who is held back by a lack of self-confidence due to Eczema, which is overcompensated for by dressing provocatively and “caking” on makeup. Another is a young man who is having trouble finding the “one”. Ho offers simple tips on his dating profile and mannerisms to help build his confidence. We also meet a grandmother who has been putting her family’s needs before hers for a long time. And also a new mother who’s lost her groove after post-partum depression.

Above this, Ho comes with a tradition-based Chinese approach to home layouts with Feng Shui, accupuncture and herbal medicine. The said new mother is offered a bowl of Congee even. We love this.

These are very real, relatable scenarios which surely viewers at home can take a thing or two from. Episodes are cut with actual classes with a group of Chinese women looking to garner the grace that Ho has built a brand on. They get coached on everything from pronouncing the names of fashion houses correctly, to delicately spitting unfavourable foods out.

While episodes are short, perhaps not giving Ho the full space to explore these journeys and transformations to the desired emotional effect, they are undeniably entertaining and engaging.

MIND YOUR MANNERS arrives November 16, 2022 on Netflix.