Lucca’s World – Netflix Movie

Sometimes circumstances conspire to give you a good deal. Two or three months ago Netflix discontinued (detected?) the Add-on viewing facility that parents enjoyed (unauthorizedly?) against the subscriptions of their children abroad. Since then, we had been cut off from Netflix. 

Yesterday evening when we failed to identify a short movie to watch before going to bed, we asked ourselves: “Why should we deny ourselves the pleasure? Why not we subscribe ourselves to Netflix?.” And thus began our attempt to subscribe to it. But it was a tall order considering that all these platforms have an in-built AutoPay subscription for 10, 20 or 30 years – 30 years in the case of Netflix. I tried my best to meddle with it to make it for just one year but failed. So, I have made a note to take a call.

The reason why I mention all these is that our effort was well rewarded, to begin with. As we browsed the various options on Netflix, we chanced upon a clipping that showed a foreign family in an Indian temple and praying for their son’s recovery.

We picked it. Yes, it was Lucca’s World, based on a book by the same name. For those who have not either read the book or watched the movie, it is in Spanish, dubbed in English. A family from Mexico makes frantic efforts to find a cure for their son suffering from cerebral palsy. The mother feels guilty that she did not push well enough in the labour room resulting in a concussion. She swore to do everything to bring the baby back to normal.

She was working for a media channel interviewing eminent personalities. In one such pre-interview casual conversation the person to be interviewed observed that she was unduly tense and worried. She disclosed her problem. He shared with her of an institution in India, yes, Namma Bengaluru, where they have cured a few such cases successfully.

They were a middle-class family. Her husband, unemployed for months, had a leg amputation and had prosthetic steel leg for mobility. On top of that, they were paying back housing loan. In other words, a visit, and to speak of stay, in India was just unthinkable. 

Sorry, at this rate, I might as well end up telling you the story and deprive you of the charm of watching it. Were they able to make it to India despite the warning of the Mexican doctors of the risks involved in such a long-haul travel. Also, if the child gets an epileptic attack of longer duration. 

Did they make it to India? Did they find it an exercise in futility as they drained out their frugal funds, or was it rewarding? What are the procedural wrangles such a project involved. All these, and more, are what this movie is all about. In the event you decide to watch it, be sure that however best you remind yourself that after all you are watching a movie, you cannot help wiping a tear or two on occasions.

The movie is based on a true story.

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