For decades, science fiction has largely been imagined through dystopian systems, sterile laboratories, and futures shaped by technological excess. But Futuro Desierto enters that conversation from a different emotional geography — one where grief, ethics, family, and artificial intelligence collide within a distinctly Latin American lens.
Premiering on Netflix, the series explores AI not merely as innovation, but as confrontation: between logic and emotion, progress and morality, machine intelligence and human fragility. Set between Silicon Valley’s scientific ecosystem and the emotional fractures unfolding in southern Mexico, the story asks what remains distinctly human when technology begins to imitate attachment, care, and consciousness.
Within that universe, Caro Darman inhabits one of the show’s most intellectually layered spaces. As part of a network of Latino scientists and software engineers behind the creation of ANBIs, humanoid beings designed to challenge biological and emotional boundaries, her character exists at the intersection of innovation, ethical uncertainty, and emotional collapse.
I do think a Latin American sci-fi series feels very unique because we’ve seen so little of it before, but not because it can’t be done"
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| Photo: Juan Bautizta Stylist: Ruth Buendia |
Premiering on a global platform with a Latin American sci-fi production is a major milestone. How do you see the current state of the Latin American market when it comes to creating complex and niche-driven narratives like science fiction and psychological drama?
Caro Darman: Honestly, I think we’re going through a very complex moment in the industry overall, especially within the Latin American market, where budgets are already lower than in other parts of the world and the genres that usually get produced tend to be more limited. What I see right now is a stronger aversion to risk. But I also believe that, precisely because of that, we have to defend more than ever the idea that in Latin America we can tell any stories we want, in any genre we choose, without being limited by definitions imposed from the outside or by budget constraints. Recently, we’ve seen incredible productions emerge, like The Eternaut and One Hundred Years of Solitude, and I truly hope they open doors for more Latin American productions of that scale — and that people continue to invest in different genres, even without relying on such strong pre-existing IPs. Futuro Desierto is an original story, and I’d love to see more projects like that.
Historically, major sci-fi productions involving robotics and artificial intelligence have largely come from Hollywood. How do you think audiences will respond to a story in this genre set in southern Mexico and developed by Latino scientists in Silicon Valley? Do you think this gives the series a unique identity?
Caro: Well, I hope audiences receive it with the same love with which we made it, while also embracing our right to tell whatever stories we want to tell in Latin America, regardless of genre. Beyond that, the presence of Latinos in Silicon Valley is actually very close to reality. I have friends from high school who are Latino and now work developing AI in those companies. There are people from all over the world there. I do think a Latin American sci-fi series feels very unique because we’ve seen so little of it before, but not because it can’t be done.
Your character leads a team of software engineers in Silicon Valley responsible for developing the ANBIs. What was it like bringing this brilliant mind to life, and what were your main inspirations in building a technology leader?
Caro: A lot of elements came together. It all started with the script, which from the very beginning presented such a solid and detailed universe that it made it easy to imagine this technological world and its dynamics. Then there were rehearsals with the actors who played the scientific team, along with the directors, who arrived with a tremendous amount of information to share. Altogether, it became a really interesting and enriching process.
Playing a software engineer leading a team in Silicon Valley requires a very specific vocabulary and posture. What was the greatest technical or interpretive challenge this role brought to your career compared to your previous work?
Caro: Interestingly, one of those old high school friends — who now works in AI in Silicon Valley — helped me prepare for the technical side of everything and really understand what artificial intelligence is at its core. This was over two years ago, before AI became as accessible and present in everyday life as it is now. I think the biggest challenge was understanding it deeply: how this technology is built, how it functions and how to approach concepts that are so massive and abstract that they can sometimes feel difficult to fully grasp.
Since Futuro Desierto is an ensemble series with multiple intertwined storylines, how does the scientific core in Silicon Valley directly connect with the emotional and family drama experienced by Alex and the android María in southern Mexico?
Caro: This group of Latino scientists met in Silicon Valley and, over time, they practically became a family. By the time Alex and his two children travel to southern Mexico, this group has already gone through a lot together, the most significant being Sara’s death. Alex continues working remotely with the team that remained in Silicon Valley, but there are secrets involved and when those begin to come to light, relationships start to fracture, both in Mexico and in Silicon Valley.
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| Photo: Courtesy |
The production features major names in Latin American film and television, such as José María Yazpik, Karla Souza, and Andrés Parra. What was the dynamic like behind the scenes, and how was it building this sci-fi universe alongside the cast?
Caro: It was a beautiful and incredibly inspiring process. For me, it’s truly an honor to work with such an amazing cast and to learn from them every single day. At the same time, we were all learning about AI and entering this universe together, which made the experience even more special and meaningful to share.
The series raises deep questions about what it means to be “real” and to have emotions. Did working on this project change your own perspective on the advancement of artificial intelligence in our daily lives?
Caro: Before this project, AI felt abstract to me, something I didn’t fully understand and couldn’t quite place in the present. It was through Futuro Desierto first, and later because AI naturally became part of everyday life, that this changed. Now, it feels impossible not to see it as a force that will transform humanity’s future. But at this moment, what concerns me more is not the technology itself — it’s what we, as people, are going to do with AI.
With the series premiering on Netflix this May 22, what do you most hope audiences feel, or begin to question, after watching the episodes?
Caro: I hope they get hooked and can’t stop watching. And if they walk away still thinking about questions like what it truly means to be human, or who is behind the technology we use every day — and what they want — I think that’s incredible. But I don’t place that much responsibility on a series. First and foremost, I want it to entertain.
If Futuro Desierto begins as a science-fiction drama about artificial intelligence, it ultimately unfolds as something more intimate — a meditation on ethics, grief, emotional inheritance, and the fragile line between what can be engineered and what remains deeply human. Through Caro Darman’s reflections, the series reveals a tension far beyond futurism: not simply whether machines can learn to think or feel, but how humanity will choose to live alongside the technologies it creates.
In that uncertainty, Futuro Desierto positions as part of a broader Latin American storytelling movement willing to imagine complexity, challenge convention, and claim space within genres long dominated by other cinematic traditions.
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