The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Hustlers Adrift in the Established Order
Capturing the urban restlessness and pulsating life of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s gripping drama zooms in on those who exist on the margins of an ever-changing metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) stands at a pivotal juncture; abandoned by his parents, the innocent young man seeks comfort in the arms of others.
On an night on the town with his rowdy group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler more than twice his age. Shrouded in the flickering glow of a XXX cinema, their introductory rendezvous is physical and passionate, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the clandestine realm of the sex trade and selling drugs.
A Portrait of Understanding Instead of Sensationalism
Caetano depicts Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy as opposed to as a exploitative warning story. Now going by the name of Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with swaggering confidence and endearing innocence. To his customers, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, filled with bustling alleyways and colourful shopfronts, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as unmoored souls hold fast to one another for momentary bliss.
"The city are fraught with peril, yet they are where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complicated Relationship of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a sheltering paternal presence to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by possessiveness and economic precarity. Dangers posed by dubious individuals in the criminal underworld pale in comparison to the fear of government monitoring and incarceration, epitomized by the hovering figures of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is most powerful as an astute portrait of the lost people who have fallen through the cracks the established structure. The film stands as a moving exploration into survival, found community, and the pursuit of self within a demanding urban landscape.
