Is Lucca's World on Netflix based on a true story? Details explored

Lucca's World is one of the latest Netflix offerings of 2025. This drama was released on January 31, 2025. Originally called Los Dos Hemisferios de Lucca, the film is helmed by Mariana Chenillo who also wrote it with Barbara Anderson and Javier Penalosa.

The film stars Barbara Mori, Julian Tello, and Juan Pablo Medina among others. The official synopsis reads:

Determined to help her son, who has cerebral palsy, Bárbara takes her family to India for an experimental treatment.

Lucca's World has received quite a buzz as there have been reports that it is based on an actual incident.

Is Lucca's World based on a real event?

Lucca's World has been adapted from a novel called The Two Hemispheres of Lucca, which was written by Barbara Anderson. In it, the writer mentions in detail how her family decided to take her son Lucca to India, which helped in improving his health. He was born in 2011 with a condition called hypoxia that eventually led to cerebral palsy.

After taking him to India, Barbara meets a scientist and has a machine called Cytotron, which was used to cure Lucca. After he was cured, Barbara started advocating the treatment across the globe.

In her book, Anderson mentioned that there was a guy on whom the character of Dr. Jaramillo is based, who made things complicated for her. She has specifically mentioned that it took them around 800 days to get Lucca the required treatment.

What is the plot of Lucca's World?

Lucca's World is about Barbara Anderson (played by Barbara Mori), who is married to a guy named Andres (Juan Pablo Medina) whose son Lucca (Julian Tello) is suffering from cerebral palsy. The couple tries different doctors and treatments in their country but to no avail. They eventually find out about a place in India where they come across a device named Cytotron. This cures their son's condition.

In real life, Anderson is a journalist and an activist for disabled people and has also written several books. Lucca's World was shot mostly in India, including in cities like Bangalore and Bhopal to capture the true essence of that culture. The makers wanted to explore the issue of disability rights and a better world for people suffering from any kind of disability to get all kinds of access.

After the film's release, Anderson spoke to AP News and told them that the technology that saved her son is yet to be brought to Mexico. She stated that they were ready, but they needed a go-ahead from the authorities.

"We are still waiting for official authorizations for this technology to operate in Mexico. The machines are already in Mexico, but we need the final approvals."

She also spoke about her experience of watching the film. She said:

"It was a brutally realistic process. Many scenes were based on family videos and photos, which made the experience doubly powerful. I was impressed by the way the actors engaged, with respect and curiosity, to portray our story as authentically as possible."

In January, she told Netflix that watching herself in the film was difficult:

"Watching yourself in a movie is very difficult to explain, I cried when I saw us 'being' again. Listening to Bárbara Mori and Juan Pablo Medina's voices, with my timbre or with Andrés, my husband's stock phrases... I saw us 'being' other people and my body froze. As they often say that reality outdoes fiction, this time fiction catapulted our life to another level."