Baby Review: An Astute Depiction of Queer Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the System
Channelling the urban restlessness and vibrancy of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s unflinching drama zooms in on those who exist on the margins of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; abandoned by his parents, the wide-eyed young man finds solace in the arms of others.
On an evening out with his boisterous group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler significantly older than his age. Illuminated by the wavering neon of a XXX cinema, their first meeting is intimate and charged, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the shadowy world of sex work and selling drugs.
A Portrait of Understanding Instead of 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 engages in his paid liaisons with brash fearlessness and endearing innocence. To his patrons, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also moments of care.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, teeming with bustling alleyways and colourful shopfronts, there’s a persistent isolation, as adrift individuals grasp at one another for momentary bliss.
"The urban landscape can be riddled with risk, yet they are where they can discover chosen kin, too."
A Complicated Dynamic of Love and Control
Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by jealousy and economic precarity. Intimidation from shady figures in the underworld seem minor next to the fear of institutional observation and imprisonment, represented by the constant sight of police officers on patrol.
Baby is particularly impactful as a perceptive study of the lost people who have fallen through the cracks the established structure. The film functions as a heartfelt examination into making ends meet, chosen family, and the quest for purpose within a harsh urban landscape.
