Baby Review: A Sharp Depiction of Queer Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the Established Order
Evoking the urban restlessness and pulsating life of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s gripping drama focuses on those who live on the fringes of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; deserted by his parents, the innocent young man finds solace in the arms of others.
On an night on the town with his rowdy group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler more than twice his age. Illuminated by the pulsating light of a neon-lit porn cinema, their introductory rendezvous is physical and passionate, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the underground scene of the sex trade and drug dealing.
A Portrait of Understanding Rather Than Sensationalism
The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy as opposed to as a exploitative warning story. Now going by the name of Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with brash fearlessness and touching naivety. To his clients, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also moments of care.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, teeming with busy lanes and colourful shopfronts, there’s a persistent isolation, as unmoored souls grasp at one another for fleeting joy.
"The urban landscape are riddled with risk, yet they are the place where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complicated Relationship of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is both a lover and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by envy and economic precarity. Dangers posed by nefarious characters in the shadow economy pale in comparison to the anxiety about government monitoring and incarceration, symbolized by the looming presence of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is most powerful as a perceptive study of the forgotten souls who have fallen through the cracks the social system. The film stands as a poignant exploration into survival, non-biological kinship, and the search for purpose within a harsh urban landscape.
