The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Lost in the Established Order
Channelling the city's relentless energy and vibrancy of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's bracing drama focuses on those who exist on the margins of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) stands at a pivotal juncture; deserted by his parents, the innocent young man discovers refuge in the arms of others.
On an late-night excursion with his lively group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler significantly older than his age. Shrouded in the flickering glow of a XXX cinema, their first meeting is intimate and charged, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the shadowy world of the sex trade and drug dealing.
A Portrait of Understanding Instead of Exploitation
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy instead of as a melodramatic morality play. Now using the alias Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with cocky bravado and endearing innocence. To his clients, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, overflowing with busy lanes and colourful shopfronts, there’s a persistent isolation, as rootless people cling on to one another for fleeting joy.
"The streets can be filled with danger, yet they are where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complex Dynamic of Love and Control
Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a sheltering paternal presence to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by jealousy and economic precarity. Dangers posed by dubious individuals in the criminal underworld are overshadowed by the anxiety about institutional observation and incarceration, represented by the hovering figures of police officers on patrol.
Baby is particularly impactful as a keen observation of the forgotten souls who have slipped through the gaps the system. The film functions as a heartfelt look into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the search for identity within a unforgiving urban landscape.
