Baby Review: An Astute Depiction of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Lost in the System
Channelling the metropolitan unease and pulsating life of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's unflinching drama centres on those who live on the fringes of an ever-changing metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; abandoned by his parents, the innocent young man seeks comfort in the arms of others.
On an night on the town with his lively group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler over double his age. Bathed in the flickering glow of a neon-lit porn cinema, their introductory rendezvous is intimate and charged, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the clandestine realm of sex work and narcotics trafficking.
A Portrait of Empathy Rather Than Exploitation
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy instead of as a melodramatic morality play. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with swaggering confidence and touching naivety. To his clients, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, filled with bustling alleyways and vibrant storefronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as adrift individuals grasp at one another for momentary bliss.
"The urban landscape can be fraught with peril, yet they are where they can discover chosen kin, too."
A Complex Relationship of Love and Control
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by jealousy and financial instability. Intimidation from dubious individuals in the shadow economy pale in comparison to the fear of government monitoring and incarceration, represented by the looming presence of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is especially potent as a keen observation of the disenfranchised individuals who have fallen through the cracks the established structure. The film functions as a moving exploration into survival, found community, and the search for self within a unforgiving urban landscape.
