Baby Review: An Astute Depiction of Queer Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the Established Order
Channelling the metropolitan unease and pulsating life of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s bracing drama focuses on those who exist on the margins of an constantly evolving 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 innocent young man seeks comfort in the arms of others.
On an evening out with his boisterous group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler more than twice his age. Illuminated by the flickering glow of a adult movie theater, their initial encounter is intimate and charged, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the underground scene of the sex trade and drug dealing.
A Study of Understanding Rather Than Sensationalism
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy rather than as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with swaggering confidence and poignant gullibility. To his patrons, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.
In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, filled with crowded backstreets and brightly painted facades, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as unmoored souls grasp at one another for temporary happiness.
"The urban landscape are filled with danger, yet they are also the space where they can discover chosen kin, too."
A Complex Dynamic of Love and Control
Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by jealousy and economic precarity. Threats from shady figures in the shadow economy pale in comparison to the fear of institutional observation and incarceration, represented by the looming presence of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is especially potent as a perceptive study of the forgotten souls who have slipped through the gaps the system. The film functions as a poignant look into survival, non-biological kinship, and the pursuit of purpose within a demanding urban landscape.
