Baby Review: An Astute Depiction of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the Established Order
Evoking the city's relentless energy and pulsating life of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's gripping drama focuses on those who inhabit the outskirts of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; abandoned by his parents, the innocent young man discovers refuge in the arms of others.
On an night on the town with his rowdy group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler over double his age. Shrouded in the pulsating light of a adult movie theater, their initial encounter is intimate and charged, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the underground scene of prostitution and selling drugs.
A Study of Empathy Instead of Exploitation
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy instead of as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now using the alias Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with cocky bravado and poignant gullibility. To his patrons, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also moments of care.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, overflowing with crowded backstreets and colourful shopfronts, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as unmoored souls grasp at one another for temporary happiness.
"The city can be riddled with risk, yet they are also the space where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complicated Relationship of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a sheltering paternal presence to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by jealousy and monetary insecurity. Threats from nefarious characters in the shadow economy are overshadowed by the anxiety about state surveillance and incarceration, symbolized by the looming presence of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is especially potent as a keen observation of the disenfranchised individuals who have been failed by the established structure. The film functions as a moving look into survival, found community, and the search for identity within a harsh urban landscape.
