The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of Queer Brazilian Survivors Lost in the Established Order
Channelling the urban restlessness and pulsating life of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's unflinching drama centres on those who exist on the margins of an ever-changing metropolis. Recently released from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) stands at a pivotal juncture; left behind by his parents, the impressionable young man discovers refuge in the arms of others.
On an late-night excursion with his boisterous group of gay and non-binary friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler significantly older than his age. Shrouded in the pulsating light of a XXX cinema, their first meeting is intimate and charged, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the shadowy world of sex work and drug dealing.
A Portrait of Empathy Instead of Exploitation
The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy instead of as a melodramatic morality play. Now using the alias Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with cocky bravado and endearing innocence. To his clients, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also moments of care.
In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, teeming with bustling alleyways and vibrant storefronts, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as adrift individuals hold fast to one another for fleeting joy.
"The streets are filled with danger, yet they are also the space where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complicated Dynamic of Love and Control
Ronaldo is both a lover and a sheltering paternal presence to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by envy and economic precarity. Threats from shady figures in the shadow economy pale in comparison to the anxiety about institutional observation and imprisonment, epitomized by the hovering figures of police officers in the area.
Baby is especially potent as a keen observation of the disenfranchised individuals who have been failed by the social system. The film functions as a heartfelt examination into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the search for purpose within a demanding urban landscape.
