The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of Queer Brazilian Hustlers Lost in the System
Evoking the city's relentless energy and pulsating life of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s unflinching drama centres on those who live on the fringes 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 impressionable young man finds solace in the arms of others.
On an night on the town with his rowdy group of gay and non-binary friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler more than twice his age. Bathed in the flickering glow of a neon-lit porn cinema, their first meeting is sensuous and erotic, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the underground scene of sex work and narcotics trafficking.
A Portrait of Empathy Rather Than Exploitation
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy instead of as a melodramatic morality play. Now going by the name of Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with cocky bravado and endearing innocence. To his patrons, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, filled with crowded backstreets and colourful shopfronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as unmoored souls cling on to one another for temporary happiness.
"The streets might be filled with danger, yet they are the place where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complex Relationship of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by jealousy and monetary insecurity. Threats from dubious individuals in the shadow economy pale in comparison to the dread of government monitoring and incarceration, represented by the hovering figures of police officers in the area.
Baby is most powerful as a perceptive study of the lost people who have slipped through the gaps the system. The film stands as a heartfelt look into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the pursuit of identity within a demanding urban landscape.
