The Film Baby Review: An Astute Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Hustlers Lost in the Established Order
Capturing the urban restlessness and dynamic spirit of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's bracing drama centres on those who exist on the margins of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; left behind by his parents, the innocent 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 encounters Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler more than twice his age. Shrouded in the flickering glow of a XXX cinema, their first meeting is intimate and charged, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the clandestine realm of the sex trade and selling drugs.
A Study of Empathy Instead of Sensationalism
Caetano depicts Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy rather than as a melodramatic morality play. Now going by the name of Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with brash fearlessness and touching naivety. To his clients, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, teeming with crowded backstreets and colourful shopfronts, there’s a persistent isolation, as rootless people grasp at one another for fleeting joy.
"The city are fraught with peril, yet they are the place where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complicated Dynamic of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is both a lover and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by jealousy and economic precarity. Intimidation from dubious individuals in the criminal underworld are overshadowed by the fear of institutional observation and jail time, represented by the constant sight of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is especially potent as a perceptive study of the lost people who have been failed by the established structure. The film ultimately serves as a heartfelt examination into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the search for self within a harsh urban landscape.