Baby Review: An Astute Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Hustlers Adrift in the Established Order
Evoking the urban restlessness and pulsating life of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's bracing drama centres 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; abandoned by his parents, the impressionable young man finds solace in the arms of others.
On an evening out with his boisterous group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler over double his age. Shrouded in the wavering neon of a XXX cinema, their initial encounter is intimate and charged, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the underground scene of sex work and drug dealing.
A Study of Understanding Instead of Exploitation
The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy rather than as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now going by the name of Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with swaggering confidence and poignant gullibility. To his customers, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, filled with bustling alleyways and colourful shopfronts, there’s a persistent isolation, as rootless people grasp at one another for temporary happiness.
"The urban landscape are filled with danger, yet they are the place where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complex Relationship of Love and Control
Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a sheltering paternal presence to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by jealousy and monetary insecurity. Dangers posed by dubious individuals in the shadow economy seem minor next to the fear of state surveillance and imprisonment, epitomized by the looming presence of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is particularly impactful as a keen observation of the forgotten souls who have been failed by the system. The film functions as a heartfelt look into resilience, non-biological kinship, and the search for self within a demanding urban landscape.
