Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Lost in the System
Capturing the urban restlessness and vibrancy of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s gripping drama centres on those who exist on the margins of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Recently released from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; abandoned by his parents, the impressionable young man discovers refuge in the arms of others.
On an evening out with his boisterous group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler more than twice his age. Illuminated by the flickering glow of a adult movie theater, their first meeting is physical and passionate, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the shadowy world of the sex trade and narcotics trafficking.
A Study of Empathy Instead of Sensationalism
Caetano depicts Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding rather than as a melodramatic morality play. Now using the alias 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 hectic energy of São Paulo, teeming with crowded backstreets and brightly painted facades, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as adrift individuals cling on to one another for momentary bliss.
"The urban landscape are fraught with peril, yet they are where they can discover chosen kin, too."
A Complicated Relationship of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is both a lover and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by envy and economic precarity. Threats from dubious individuals in the shadow economy pale in comparison to the anxiety about government monitoring and jail time, represented by the looming presence of police officers on patrol.
Baby is especially potent as a perceptive study of the disenfranchised individuals who have slipped through the gaps the established structure. The film stands as a moving examination into making ends meet, found community, and the quest for purpose within a unforgiving urban landscape.
