The Film Baby Review: An Astute Portrait of Queer Brazilian Survivors Lost in the Established Order
Capturing the city's relentless energy and dynamic spirit of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s gripping drama centres on those who live on the fringes of an ever-changing metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; left behind by his parents, the innocent young man seeks comfort in the arms of others.
On an evening out with his rowdy group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler over double his age. Bathed in the flickering glow of a neon-lit porn cinema, their initial encounter is sensuous and erotic, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the underground scene of prostitution and selling drugs.
A Study of Understanding Instead of Exploitation
Caetano depicts Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy instead of as a exploitative warning story. Now going by the name of Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with swaggering confidence and touching naivety. To his customers, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, filled with crowded backstreets and brightly painted facades, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as rootless people hold fast to one another for temporary happiness.
"The streets are filled with danger, yet they are the place where they can discover chosen kin, too."
A Complicated Dynamic 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 jealousy and economic precarity. Threats from shady figures in the shadow economy are overshadowed by the dread of government monitoring and imprisonment, epitomized by the constant sight of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is most powerful as an astute portrait of the disenfranchised individuals who have slipped through the gaps the social system. The film stands as a heartfelt look into survival, chosen family, and the search for purpose within a unforgiving urban landscape.
