Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Hustlers Lost in the Established Order
Capturing the city's relentless energy and dynamic spirit of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's bracing drama focuses on those who exist on the margins of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; abandoned by his parents, the impressionable young man seeks comfort in the arms of others.
On an night on the town with his rowdy group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler over double his age. Illuminated by the pulsating light of a adult movie theater, their initial encounter is physical and passionate, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the underground scene of the sex trade and narcotics trafficking.
A Portrait of Understanding Rather Than Sensationalism
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding rather than as a melodramatic morality play. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with swaggering confidence and endearing innocence. To his patrons, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also moments of care.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, teeming with busy lanes and brightly painted facades, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as rootless people hold fast to one another for temporary happiness.
"The streets are riddled with risk, yet they are also the space where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complex Dynamic of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is both a lover and a sheltering paternal presence to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by possessiveness and financial instability. Intimidation from shady figures in the criminal underworld seem minor next to the anxiety about state surveillance and imprisonment, symbolized by the constant sight of police officers on patrol.
Baby is especially potent as a perceptive study of the disenfranchised individuals who have fallen through the cracks the social system. The film functions as a moving look into making ends meet, chosen family, and the pursuit of identity within a unforgiving urban landscape.
