The Film Baby Review: An Astute Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Lost in the Established Order
Capturing the metropolitan unease and vibrancy of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's bracing drama focuses on those who inhabit the outskirts of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) stands at a pivotal juncture; left behind by his parents, the impressionable young man seeks comfort in the arms of others.
On an late-night excursion with his lively group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler more than twice his age. Shrouded in the wavering neon of a neon-lit porn cinema, their initial encounter is intimate and charged, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the underground scene of the sex trade and drug dealing.
A Portrait of Empathy Instead of Exploitation
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy rather than as a melodramatic morality play. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with brash fearlessness and touching naivety. To his patrons, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also moments of care.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, overflowing with busy lanes and colourful shopfronts, there’s a persistent isolation, as unmoored souls grasp at one another for fleeting joy.
"The city might be fraught with peril, yet they are where they can forge familial bonds, 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 jealousy and economic precarity. Dangers posed by dubious individuals in the underworld seem minor next to the dread of institutional observation and imprisonment, epitomized by the hovering figures of police officers in the area.
Baby is most powerful as an astute portrait of the lost people who have been failed by the social system. The film ultimately serves as a moving examination into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the quest for identity within a demanding urban landscape.
