Baby Review: An Astute Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the System
Capturing the city's relentless energy and dynamic spirit of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's gripping drama centres on those who inhabit the outskirts of an constantly evolving metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; left behind by his parents, the impressionable young man discovers refuge in the arms of others.
On an evening out with his lively group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler over double his age. Bathed in the flickering glow of a adult movie theater, their initial encounter is sensuous and erotic, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the clandestine realm of sex work and narcotics trafficking.
A Study of Empathy Rather Than Exploitation
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding as opposed to as a melodramatic morality play. Now going by the name of Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with swaggering confidence and poignant gullibility. To his patrons, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also moments of care.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, filled with busy lanes and colourful shopfronts, there’s a persistent isolation, as rootless people cling on to one another for temporary happiness.
"The urban landscape might be fraught with peril, yet they are the place where they can find their own family, too."
A Complicated Dynamic of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a protective father figure to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by possessiveness and economic precarity. Dangers posed by dubious individuals in the criminal underworld pale in comparison to the dread of government monitoring and incarceration, represented by the hovering figures of police officers in the area.
Baby is most powerful as a perceptive study of the lost people 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 search for identity within a unforgiving urban landscape.
