The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of Queer Brazilian Hustlers Lost in the Established Order
Evoking the city's relentless energy and dynamic spirit of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s gripping drama focuses on those who inhabit the outskirts of an constantly evolving metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; left behind by his parents, the wide-eyed young man finds solace in the arms of others.
On an night on the town with his boisterous group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler significantly older than his age. Bathed in the flickering glow of a adult movie theater, their introductory rendezvous is sensuous and erotic, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the shadowy world of sex work and narcotics trafficking.
A Study of Understanding Rather Than Sensationalism
Caetano depicts Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding as opposed to as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now going by the name of Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with brash fearlessness and poignant gullibility. To his patrons, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, overflowing with busy lanes and brightly painted facades, there’s a persistent isolation, as adrift individuals grasp at one another for fleeting joy.
"The urban landscape 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 relationship is derailed by possessiveness and monetary insecurity. Threats from shady figures in the criminal underworld are overshadowed by the dread of institutional observation and incarceration, epitomized by the looming presence of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is most powerful as a keen observation of the forgotten souls who have been failed by the system. The film ultimately serves as a heartfelt look into survival, non-biological kinship, and the search for self within a unforgiving urban landscape.
