The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of Queer Brazilian Survivors Lost in the System
Evoking the urban restlessness and pulsating life of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s gripping drama focuses on those who exist on the margins of an constantly evolving metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; left behind by his parents, the wide-eyed young man seeks comfort in the arms of others.
On an evening out with his lively group of gay and non-binary friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler significantly older than his age. Bathed in the wavering neon of a XXX cinema, their initial encounter is sensuous and erotic, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the shadowy world of sex work and drug dealing.
A Study of Empathy Rather Than Sensationalism
The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy rather than as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now using the alias Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with swaggering confidence and endearing innocence. To his patrons, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, teeming with busy lanes and brightly painted facades, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as adrift individuals hold fast to one another for momentary bliss.
"The urban landscape might be filled with danger, yet they are also the space where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complicated Dynamic of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is both a lover and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by jealousy and economic precarity. Threats from shady figures in the underworld are overshadowed by the dread of institutional observation and imprisonment, represented by the looming presence of police officers in the area.
Baby is most powerful as an astute portrait of the disenfranchised individuals who have slipped through the gaps the social system. The film ultimately serves as a poignant examination into resilience, non-biological kinship, and the pursuit of identity within a unforgiving urban landscape.
