Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Lost in the Established Order
Capturing the city's relentless energy and vibrancy of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's unflinching drama zooms in on those who live on the fringes of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) stands at a pivotal juncture; deserted by his parents, the impressionable 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 strapping, magnetic hustler more than twice his age. Illuminated by the flickering glow of a neon-lit porn cinema, their introductory rendezvous is intimate and charged, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the underground scene of sex work and selling drugs.
A Portrait of Understanding Instead of Exploitation
The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding instead of as a exploitative warning story. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with cocky bravado and poignant gullibility. To his patrons, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, filled with busy lanes and colourful shopfronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as unmoored souls hold fast to one another for fleeting joy.
"The city are filled with danger, yet they are also the space where they can discover chosen kin, too."
A Complicated Relationship of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a sheltering paternal presence to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by possessiveness and financial instability. Threats from nefarious characters in the underworld seem minor next to the dread of government monitoring and imprisonment, symbolized by the looming presence of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is especially potent as an astute portrait of the disenfranchised individuals who have slipped through the gaps the system. The film functions as a heartfelt examination into resilience, found community, and the quest for self within a demanding urban landscape.