The Film Baby Review: An Astute Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the System
Evoking the city's relentless energy and pulsating life of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s gripping drama focuses on those who exist on the margins of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; deserted by his parents, the impressionable young man seeks comfort in the arms of others.
On an late-night excursion with his lively group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler significantly older than his age. Illuminated by the flickering glow of a adult movie theater, their introductory rendezvous is sensuous and erotic, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the clandestine realm of sex work and drug dealing.
A Study of Understanding Rather Than Sensationalism
The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding as opposed to as a melodramatic morality play. Now going by the name of Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with cocky bravado and touching naivety. To his customers, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.
In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, overflowing with busy lanes and brightly painted facades, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as unmoored souls hold fast to one another for fleeting joy.
"The city might be riddled with risk, yet they are where they can discover chosen kin, too."
A Complicated Relationship of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by envy and financial instability. Dangers posed by shady figures in the underworld pale in comparison to the anxiety about institutional observation and imprisonment, represented by the hovering figures of police officers on patrol.
Baby is most powerful as an astute portrait of the disenfranchised individuals who have been failed by the system. The film stands as a heartfelt look into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the search for self within a unforgiving urban landscape.
