The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Depiction of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Lost in the Established Order
Channelling the city's relentless energy and pulsating life 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) stands at a pivotal juncture; left behind by his parents, the impressionable young man finds solace in the arms of others.
On an late-night excursion with his lively group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler over double his age. Shrouded in the pulsating light of a adult movie theater, their first meeting is intimate and charged, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the shadowy world of the sex trade and selling drugs.
A Study of Empathy Instead of Exploitation
The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy instead of as a exploitative warning story. Now using the alias Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with swaggering confidence and touching naivety. To his clients, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, filled with bustling alleyways and vibrant storefronts, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as rootless people grasp at one another for momentary bliss.
"The city might be riddled with risk, yet they are also the space where they can find their own family, too."
A Complicated Dynamic of Love and Control
Ronaldo is both a lover and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by jealousy and economic precarity. Threats from dubious individuals in the criminal underworld are overshadowed by the dread of institutional observation and incarceration, symbolized by the constant sight of police officers in the area.
Baby is especially potent as a perceptive study of the disenfranchised individuals who have been failed by the social system. The film functions as a heartfelt exploration into resilience, non-biological kinship, and the pursuit of purpose within a unforgiving urban landscape.
