The Film Baby Review: An Astute Portrait of Queer Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the Established Order
Evoking the city's relentless energy and pulsating life of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s bracing drama zooms in on those who live on the fringes of an ever-changing metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; abandoned by his parents, the impressionable young man finds solace in the arms of others.
On an late-night excursion with his boisterous group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler more than twice his age. Shrouded in the flickering glow of a XXX cinema, their introductory rendezvous is intimate and charged, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the underground scene of prostitution and narcotics trafficking.
A Portrait of Understanding Rather Than Exploitation
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy as opposed to as a melodramatic morality play. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with brash fearlessness and poignant gullibility. To his customers, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.
In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, filled with crowded backstreets and colourful shopfronts, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as rootless people hold fast to one another for fleeting joy.
"The urban landscape are filled with danger, yet they are also the space where they can find their own family, too."
A Complicated Relationship of Love and Control
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by jealousy and economic precarity. Threats from nefarious characters in the underworld are overshadowed by the anxiety about state surveillance and jail time, symbolized by the constant sight of police officers in the area.
Baby is most powerful as a keen observation of the lost people who have fallen through the cracks the established structure. The film functions as a poignant exploration into resilience, found community, and the search for self within a demanding urban landscape.
