Baby Review: An Astute Depiction of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Hustlers Adrift in the System
Evoking the urban restlessness and pulsating life of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's unflinching drama centres on those who exist on the margins of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; left behind by his parents, the impressionable young man discovers refuge in the arms of others.
On an evening out with his lively group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler more than twice his age. Illuminated by the pulsating light of a neon-lit porn cinema, their introductory rendezvous is physical and passionate, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the clandestine realm of the sex trade and narcotics trafficking.
A Study of Understanding Instead of Exploitation
Caetano depicts Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding rather than as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now using the alias Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with cocky bravado and endearing innocence. To his patrons, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, overflowing with bustling alleyways and colourful shopfronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as adrift individuals grasp at one another for momentary bliss.
"The streets might be filled with danger, yet they are where they can discover chosen kin, too."
A Complex Dynamic of Love and Control
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest 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 shadow economy seem minor next to the fear of institutional observation and imprisonment, symbolized by the hovering figures of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is especially potent as a perceptive study of the lost people who have fallen through the cracks the established structure. The film functions as a moving examination into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the pursuit of self within a unforgiving urban landscape.
