The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Depiction of Queer Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the Established Order
Evoking the urban restlessness and pulsating life of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's unflinching drama centres on those who exist on the margins of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Recently released from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; left behind by his parents, the wide-eyed young man discovers refuge 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 strapping, magnetic hustler significantly older than his age. Illuminated by the pulsating light of a neon-lit porn cinema, their initial encounter is physical and passionate, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the underground scene of sex work and drug dealing.
A Portrait of Empathy Instead of Exploitation
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy as opposed to as a exploitative warning story. Now using the alias Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with swaggering confidence and poignant gullibility. To his customers, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, overflowing with crowded backstreets and colourful shopfronts, there’s a persistent isolation, as adrift individuals cling on to one another for temporary happiness.
"The urban landscape can be riddled with risk, yet they are also the space where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complicated Relationship of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is both a lover and a protective father figure to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by envy and economic precarity. Threats from nefarious characters in the underworld are overshadowed by the anxiety about government monitoring and incarceration, represented by the constant sight of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is particularly impactful as a perceptive study of the forgotten souls who have fallen through the cracks the social system. The film stands as a heartfelt look into resilience, non-biological kinship, and the search for self within a demanding urban landscape.
