The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Lost in the Established Order
Capturing the city's relentless energy and dynamic spirit of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's bracing drama zooms in on those who inhabit the outskirts of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; abandoned by his parents, the innocent young man seeks comfort in the arms of others.
On an evening out with his boisterous group of gay and non-binary friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler significantly older than his age. Shrouded in the wavering neon of a XXX cinema, their initial encounter is sensuous and erotic, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the clandestine realm of prostitution and drug dealing.
A Study of Empathy Rather Than Sensationalism
Caetano depicts Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy instead of as a melodramatic morality play. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with cocky bravado and touching naivety. To his clients, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, filled with bustling alleyways and colourful shopfronts, there’s a persistent isolation, as adrift individuals grasp at one another for momentary bliss.
"The city are filled with danger, yet they are also the space where they can find their own family, too."
A Complex Dynamic of Love and Control
Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by envy and economic precarity. Intimidation from shady figures in the shadow economy are overshadowed by the anxiety about institutional observation and imprisonment, represented by the hovering figures of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is most powerful as a perceptive study of the disenfranchised individuals who have slipped through the gaps the established structure. The film functions as a poignant examination into resilience, non-biological kinship, and the quest for purpose within a harsh urban landscape.
