The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the System
Channelling the urban restlessness and dynamic spirit of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s unflinching drama centres on those who exist on the margins of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; left behind by his parents, the impressionable young man seeks comfort in the arms of others.
On an evening out with his rowdy group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler significantly older than his age. Illuminated by the wavering neon of a adult movie theater, their initial encounter is intimate and charged, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the clandestine realm of prostitution and selling drugs.
A Portrait of Empathy Rather Than Sensationalism
Caetano depicts Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy instead of as a exploitative warning story. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with swaggering confidence and touching naivety. To his patrons, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, filled with crowded backstreets and brightly painted facades, there’s a persistent isolation, as rootless people hold fast to one another for momentary bliss.
"The streets can be riddled with risk, yet they are also the space where they can discover chosen kin, too."
A Complex Relationship of Love and Control
Ronaldo is both a lover and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by envy and economic precarity. Dangers posed by dubious individuals in the criminal underworld pale in comparison to the fear of institutional observation and incarceration, epitomized by the looming presence of police officers on patrol.
Baby is especially potent as a perceptive study of the disenfranchised individuals who have fallen through the cracks the system. The film ultimately serves as a moving examination into resilience, found community, and the pursuit of self within a harsh urban landscape.
