Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Hustlers Lost in the Established Order
Channelling the metropolitan unease and vibrancy of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's unflinching drama zooms in 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; left behind by his parents, the impressionable young man finds solace in the arms of others.
On an late-night excursion with his lively group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler significantly older than his age. Shrouded in the wavering neon of a neon-lit porn cinema, their initial encounter is intimate and charged, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the clandestine realm of the sex trade and selling drugs.
A Study of Empathy Instead of Exploitation
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding as opposed to as a exploitative warning story. Now going by the name of Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with brash fearlessness and poignant gullibility. To his customers, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, overflowing with busy lanes and vibrant storefronts, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as rootless people hold fast to one another for temporary happiness.
"The streets can be fraught with peril, yet they are where they can discover chosen kin, too."
A Complicated Relationship of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a sheltering paternal presence to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by envy and economic precarity. Intimidation from shady figures in the underworld are overshadowed by the dread of government monitoring and imprisonment, epitomized 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 social system. The film ultimately serves as a poignant look into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the pursuit of self within a unforgiving urban landscape.
