The Film Baby Review: An Astute Depiction of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Lost in the Established Order
Evoking the city's relentless energy and vibrancy of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's gripping drama focuses on those who live on the fringes of an ever-changing metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; left behind by his parents, the impressionable young man seeks comfort in the arms of others.
On an late-night excursion with his lively group of gay and non-binary friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler over double his age. Bathed in the pulsating light of a adult movie theater, their initial encounter is intimate and charged, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the underground scene of prostitution and narcotics trafficking.
A Portrait of Empathy Rather Than Exploitation
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy instead of as a exploitative warning story. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with swaggering confidence and touching naivety. To his clients, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, overflowing with bustling alleyways and colourful shopfronts, there’s a persistent isolation, as unmoored souls cling on to one another for momentary bliss.
"The urban landscape might be fraught with peril, yet they are the place where they can find their own family, too."
A Complicated Dynamic of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by jealousy and economic precarity. Intimidation from shady figures in the underworld are overshadowed by the anxiety about government monitoring and incarceration, represented by the hovering figures of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is most powerful as an astute portrait of the forgotten souls who have slipped through the gaps the social system. The film ultimately serves as a moving look into resilience, non-biological kinship, and the pursuit of self within a unforgiving urban landscape.
