The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Hustlers Adrift in the Established Order
Evoking the metropolitan unease and vibrancy of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's unflinching drama centres on those who live on the fringes of an ever-changing metropolis. Recently released from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; deserted by his parents, the impressionable young man finds solace in the arms of others.
On an late-night excursion with his lively group of gay and non-binary friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler more than twice his age. Bathed in the wavering neon of a neon-lit porn cinema, their initial encounter is intimate and charged, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the clandestine realm of prostitution and selling drugs.
A Study of Empathy Instead of Sensationalism
The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy as opposed to as a melodramatic morality play. Now using the alias Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with cocky bravado and endearing innocence. To his clients, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, filled with bustling alleyways and brightly painted facades, there’s a persistent isolation, as adrift individuals cling on to one another for momentary bliss.
"The city are riddled with risk, yet they are the place where they can discover chosen kin, too."
A Complex Dynamic of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by possessiveness and financial instability. Dangers posed by dubious individuals in the criminal underworld are overshadowed by the fear of state surveillance and jail time, epitomized by the looming presence of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is most powerful as a keen observation of the lost people who have slipped through the gaps the established structure. The film functions as a poignant exploration into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the quest for identity within a unforgiving urban landscape.
