The Film Baby Review: An Astute Depiction of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the System
Channelling the metropolitan unease and vibrancy of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's bracing drama zooms in on those who live on the fringes of an constantly evolving metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; deserted by his parents, the impressionable young man seeks comfort in the arms of others.
On an late-night excursion with his boisterous group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler over double his age. Illuminated by the flickering glow of a adult movie theater, their initial encounter is intimate and charged, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the clandestine realm of prostitution and selling drugs.
A Study of Empathy Rather Than Exploitation
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding as opposed to as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with brash fearlessness and endearing innocence. To his patrons, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, overflowing with bustling alleyways and colourful shopfronts, there’s a persistent isolation, as rootless people hold fast to one another for fleeting joy.
"The urban landscape might be fraught with peril, yet they are also the space where they can discover chosen kin, too."
A Complex Relationship of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by jealousy and economic precarity. Dangers posed by shady figures in the criminal underworld are overshadowed by the fear of state surveillance and incarceration, represented by the hovering figures of police officers in the area.
Baby is especially potent as a perceptive study of the forgotten souls who have fallen through the cracks the established structure. The film ultimately serves as a poignant examination into resilience, non-biological kinship, and the quest for self within a unforgiving urban landscape.