The Film Baby Review: An Astute Depiction of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Hustlers Lost in the Established Order
Evoking the urban restlessness and vibrancy of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s gripping drama focuses on those who live on the fringes 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 innocent 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 muscular, charming hustler over double his age. Illuminated by the flickering glow of a neon-lit porn cinema, their introductory rendezvous is sensuous and erotic, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the underground scene of prostitution and drug dealing.
A Portrait of Empathy Instead of Sensationalism
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding instead of as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with swaggering confidence and touching naivety. To his clients, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, overflowing with bustling alleyways and brightly painted facades, there’s a persistent isolation, as adrift individuals grasp at one another for fleeting joy.
"The streets can be riddled with risk, yet they are the place where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complicated Dynamic of Love and Control
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a sheltering paternal presence to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by possessiveness and economic precarity. Threats from dubious individuals in the criminal underworld are overshadowed by the anxiety about government monitoring and imprisonment, represented by the looming presence of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is especially potent as a perceptive study of the forgotten souls who have fallen through the cracks the established structure. The film functions as a moving exploration into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the quest for purpose within a unforgiving urban landscape.
