The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Depiction of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Hustlers Adrift in the System
Evoking the city's relentless energy and vibrancy of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's bracing drama zooms in on those who inhabit the outskirts of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; left behind by his parents, the impressionable young man finds solace in the arms of others.
On an late-night excursion with his boisterous group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler more than twice his age. Bathed in the flickering glow of a XXX cinema, their first meeting is sensuous and erotic, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the shadowy world of prostitution and drug dealing.
A Portrait of Understanding Instead of Sensationalism
The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy instead of as a exploitative warning story. Now using the alias Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with brash fearlessness and poignant gullibility. To his patrons, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.
In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, filled with bustling alleyways and brightly painted facades, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as adrift individuals grasp at one another for fleeting joy.
"The city can be filled with danger, yet they are also the space where they can find their own family, too."
A Complicated Dynamic of Love and Control
Ronaldo is both a lover and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by possessiveness and economic precarity. Threats from shady figures in the underworld are overshadowed by the fear of state surveillance and incarceration, epitomized by the hovering figures of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is especially potent as a perceptive study of the disenfranchised individuals who have been failed by the established structure. The film ultimately serves as a poignant examination into resilience, found community, and the quest for identity within a harsh urban landscape.
