Lucca's World

Bárbara Anderson's son Lucca was deprived of oxygen at birth and diagnosed with cerebral palsy. In Mexico the doctors tell her there is nothing to be done. She refuses that and starts researching. She learns of an experimental treatment in India and travels there with her son. Mariana Chenillo directs. Bárbara Mori plays Bárbara, Juan Pablo Medina plays Andrés, Julián Tello plays Lucca. It is a Netflix production, released on 31 January 2025, running 96 minutes. The story is real. Bárbara Anderson is a journalist and wrote about her own experience in the book Los dos hemisferios de Lucca, which is also the film's Spanish title. The film is not interested in a miracle. The treatment does not produce a solution and the film does not hide that; what is at the centre is how far a mother will go and what the effort does to the family. The tension between the parents, the neglect of the other child and the financial weight are all shown directly. Chenillo was already known for Nora's Will; her cinema handles family relationships through humour, and the register here never turns maudlin. Julián Tello, who plays Lucca, lives with cerebral palsy himself. Who it is for: viewers who follow family drama drawn from real events and Mexican cinema. Who it is not for: the subject is heavy and the final section pushes the emotional register, and the medical argument stays superficial.