The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Depiction of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Hustlers Lost in the Established Order
Evoking the metropolitan unease and pulsating life of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s unflinching drama focuses on those who live on the fringes of an constantly evolving metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; left behind by his parents, the wide-eyed young man seeks comfort in the arms of others.
On an evening out with his lively group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler significantly older than his age. Bathed in the wavering neon of a adult movie theater, their initial encounter is intimate and charged, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the clandestine realm of the sex trade and selling drugs.
A Portrait of Empathy Instead of Sensationalism
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding as opposed to as a melodramatic morality play. Now using the alias Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with brash fearlessness and poignant gullibility. To his patrons, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.
In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, teeming with crowded backstreets and colourful shopfronts, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as adrift individuals cling on to one another for momentary bliss.
"The urban landscape are riddled with risk, yet they are the place where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complex Dynamic of Love and Control
Ronaldo is both a lover and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by envy and economic precarity. Intimidation from nefarious characters in the shadow economy seem minor next to the fear of state surveillance and jail time, epitomized by the hovering figures of police officers on patrol.
Baby is especially potent as a keen observation of the disenfranchised individuals who have slipped through the gaps the social system. The film stands as a poignant examination into survival, found community, and the search for purpose within a harsh urban landscape.