The Film Baby Review: An Astute Depiction of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the Established Order
Evoking the metropolitan unease and vibrancy of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's unflinching 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) faces a critical turning point; abandoned by his parents, the impressionable young man seeks comfort in the arms of others.
On an evening out with his rowdy group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler significantly older than his age. Bathed in the pulsating light of a neon-lit porn cinema, their initial encounter is intimate and charged, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the clandestine realm of sex work and selling drugs.
A Portrait of Empathy Instead of Sensationalism
The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding instead of as a exploitative warning story. Now going by the name of Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with swaggering confidence and touching naivety. To his customers, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also moments of care.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, teeming with busy lanes and colourful shopfronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as unmoored souls hold fast to one another for momentary bliss.
"The city can be filled with danger, yet they are also the space where they can find their own family, too."
A Complicated Dynamic of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a sheltering paternal presence to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by jealousy and monetary insecurity. Threats from nefarious characters in the underworld seem minor next to the anxiety about state surveillance and imprisonment, represented by the hovering figures of police officers in the area.
Baby is especially potent as a keen observation of the lost people who have been failed by the social system. The film stands as a heartfelt look into survival, non-biological kinship, and the quest for self within a harsh urban landscape.
