Baby Review: An Astute Depiction of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Lost in the Established Order
Channelling the city's relentless energy and dynamic spirit of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s gripping drama centres 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; abandoned by his parents, the innocent young man discovers refuge in the arms of others.
On an evening out with his boisterous group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler more than twice his age. Illuminated by the flickering glow of a neon-lit porn cinema, their first meeting is intimate and charged, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the underground scene of prostitution and selling drugs.
A Study of Empathy Instead of Sensationalism
Caetano depicts Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy instead of as a melodramatic morality play. Now going by the name of Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with swaggering confidence and endearing innocence. To his clients, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, filled with busy lanes and brightly painted facades, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as rootless people hold fast to one another for temporary happiness.
"The city might be fraught with peril, yet they are the place where they can discover chosen kin, too."
A Complicated Dynamic of Love and Control
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by possessiveness and economic precarity. Intimidation from shady figures in the criminal underworld pale in comparison to the fear of institutional observation and jail time, symbolized by the looming presence of police officers in the area.
Baby is most powerful as an astute portrait of the forgotten souls who have been failed by the system. The film functions as a moving exploration into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the search for purpose within a harsh urban landscape.
