The Film Baby Review: An Astute Depiction of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Hustlers Lost in the Established Order
Channelling the metropolitan unease and dynamic spirit of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's unflinching drama centres on those who inhabit the outskirts of an constantly evolving metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) stands at a pivotal juncture; abandoned by his parents, the impressionable young man finds solace in the arms of others.
On an evening out with his rowdy group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler more than twice his age. Illuminated by the pulsating light of a XXX cinema, their introductory rendezvous is physical and passionate, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the underground scene of sex work and narcotics trafficking.
A Portrait of Empathy Instead of Sensationalism
The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy as opposed to as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now using the alias Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with brash fearlessness and endearing innocence. To his patrons, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, teeming with crowded backstreets and colourful shopfronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as unmoored souls hold fast to one another for fleeting joy.
"The urban landscape might be filled with danger, yet they are also the space where they can discover chosen kin, too."
A Complicated Dynamic of Love and Control
Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by envy and economic precarity. Threats from dubious individuals in the criminal underworld seem minor next to the dread of state surveillance and incarceration, epitomized by the hovering figures of police officers in the area.
Baby is most powerful as a perceptive study of the lost people who have fallen through the cracks the social system. The film functions as a moving examination into survival, non-biological kinship, and the search for self within a demanding urban landscape.
