The Film Baby Review: An Astute Portrait of Queer Brazilian Survivors Lost in the System
Capturing the metropolitan unease and pulsating life of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's gripping drama focuses on those who live on the fringes of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; abandoned by his parents, the impressionable young man discovers refuge 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 muscular, charming hustler more than twice his age. Shrouded in the wavering neon of a XXX cinema, their first meeting is physical and passionate, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the clandestine realm of the sex trade and selling drugs.
A Portrait of Empathy Instead of Exploitation
The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding as opposed to as a melodramatic morality play. Now using the alias Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with brash fearlessness and touching naivety. To his customers, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, overflowing with busy lanes and vibrant storefronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as rootless people grasp at one another for temporary happiness.
"The streets might be filled with danger, yet they are the place where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complicated Dynamic of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a protective father figure to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by possessiveness and economic precarity. Intimidation from nefarious characters in the shadow economy seem minor next to the fear of government monitoring and imprisonment, symbolized by the hovering figures of police officers in the area.
Baby is most powerful as an astute portrait of the lost people who have fallen through the cracks the social system. The film ultimately serves as a poignant look into resilience, found community, and the quest for purpose within a harsh urban landscape.
