Baby Review: A Sharp Depiction of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Lost in the System
Evoking the urban restlessness and dynamic spirit of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's bracing drama focuses on those who live on the fringes of an constantly evolving metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; left behind by his parents, the impressionable young man discovers refuge in the arms of others.
On an night on the town with his rowdy group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler over double his age. Illuminated by the wavering neon of a neon-lit porn cinema, their initial encounter is intimate and charged, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the shadowy world of sex work and selling drugs.
A Study of Empathy Instead of Sensationalism
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding instead of as a melodramatic morality play. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with swaggering confidence and touching naivety. To his clients, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, overflowing with bustling alleyways and colourful shopfronts, there’s a persistent isolation, as adrift individuals grasp at one another for momentary bliss.
"The streets are riddled with risk, yet they are also the space where they can discover chosen kin, too."
A Complicated Relationship of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a protective father figure to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by envy and monetary insecurity. Intimidation from shady figures in the criminal underworld seem minor next to the anxiety about state surveillance and imprisonment, represented by the looming presence of police officers on patrol.
Baby is especially potent as a perceptive study of the forgotten souls who have been failed by the established structure. The film functions as a poignant look into resilience, non-biological kinship, and the pursuit of identity within a unforgiving urban landscape.
