Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of Queer Brazilian Hustlers Lost in the Established Order
Channelling the urban restlessness and vibrancy of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s unflinching drama focuses on those who exist on the margins of an constantly evolving metropolis. Recently released from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; deserted by his parents, the impressionable 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 meets Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler more than twice his age. Bathed in the flickering glow of a adult movie theater, their first meeting is intimate and charged, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the clandestine realm of prostitution and drug dealing.
A Portrait of Empathy Instead of Exploitation
The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy as opposed to as a exploitative warning story. Now using the alias Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with swaggering confidence and poignant gullibility. To his clients, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, teeming with busy lanes and colourful shopfronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as adrift individuals cling on to one another for fleeting joy.
"The urban landscape can be fraught with peril, yet they are the place where they can find their own family, too."
A Complex Relationship of Love and Control
Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a sheltering paternal presence to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by possessiveness and monetary insecurity. Dangers posed by nefarious characters in the underworld seem minor next to the anxiety about institutional observation and imprisonment, epitomized by the constant sight of police officers in the area.
Baby is most powerful as an astute portrait of the lost people who have fallen through the cracks the social system. The film stands as a heartfelt examination into survival, found community, and the quest for identity within a demanding urban landscape.
