The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Lost in the Established Order
Capturing the city's relentless energy and dynamic spirit of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s bracing drama centres on those who inhabit the outskirts of an ever-changing metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; deserted by his parents, the innocent young man discovers refuge in the arms of others.
On an night on the town with his boisterous group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler significantly older than his age. Shrouded in the pulsating light of a adult movie theater, their initial encounter is physical and passionate, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the shadowy world of sex work and selling drugs.
A Study of Empathy Instead of Exploitation
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy as opposed to as a exploitative warning story. Now using the alias Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with swaggering confidence and poignant gullibility. To his customers, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, teeming with busy lanes and colourful shopfronts, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as adrift individuals grasp at one another for temporary happiness.
"The urban landscape are riddled with risk, yet they are the place where they can find their own family, too."
A Complicated Dynamic of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is both a lover and a protective father figure to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by jealousy and financial instability. Threats from nefarious characters in the underworld seem minor next to the fear of government monitoring and jail time, represented by the constant sight of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is most powerful as an astute portrait of the forgotten souls who have fallen through the cracks the social system. The film functions as a moving examination into resilience, non-biological kinship, and the quest for identity within a harsh urban landscape.
