Baby Review: A Sharp Depiction of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Hustlers Adrift in the Established Order
Channelling the city's relentless energy and vibrancy of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's bracing drama focuses on those who live on the fringes of an ever-changing metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; deserted by his parents, the wide-eyed young man finds solace in the arms of others.
On an night on the town with his lively group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler over double his age. Shrouded in the wavering neon of a XXX cinema, their first meeting is sensuous and erotic, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the clandestine realm of the sex trade and narcotics trafficking.
A Portrait of Understanding Rather Than Sensationalism
The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy rather than as a melodramatic morality play. Now going by the name of Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with swaggering confidence and poignant gullibility. To his patrons, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, filled with bustling alleyways and brightly painted facades, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as adrift individuals cling on to one another for temporary happiness.
"The city might be fraught with peril, yet they are the place where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complicated Relationship of Love and Control
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by jealousy and financial instability. Intimidation from nefarious characters in the underworld seem minor next to the fear of institutional observation and imprisonment, symbolized by the hovering figures of police officers on patrol.
Baby is especially potent as an astute portrait of the lost people who have been failed by the established structure. The film ultimately serves as a heartfelt look into survival, non-biological kinship, and the quest for self within a harsh urban landscape.
