Baby Review: A Sharp Depiction of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the Established Order
Channelling the city's relentless energy and pulsating life of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's unflinching 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) finds himself at a crossroads; deserted by his parents, the innocent young man seeks comfort in the arms of others.
On an night on the town with his lively group of gay and non-binary friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler over double his age. Illuminated by the pulsating light of a XXX cinema, their first meeting is intimate and charged, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the shadowy world of sex work and selling drugs.
A Study of Understanding Rather Than Exploitation
Caetano depicts Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding rather than as a melodramatic morality play. Now using the alias Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with brash fearlessness and endearing innocence. To his clients, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, teeming with busy lanes and brightly painted facades, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as adrift individuals grasp at one another for fleeting joy.
"The streets are filled with danger, yet they are also the space where they can find their own family, too."
A Complex Dynamic of Love and Control
Ronaldo is both a lover and a protective father figure to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by possessiveness and economic precarity. Dangers posed by nefarious characters in the criminal underworld are overshadowed by the anxiety about state surveillance and jail time, symbolized by the looming presence of police officers on patrol.
Baby is most powerful as an astute portrait of the forgotten souls who have been failed by the established structure. The film stands as a heartfelt examination into making ends meet, chosen family, and the pursuit of identity within a unforgiving urban landscape.
