The Film Baby Review: An Astute Depiction of Queer Brazilian Survivors Lost in the Established Order
Channelling the metropolitan unease and vibrancy of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's gripping drama zooms in on those who inhabit the outskirts of an ever-changing metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; deserted by his parents, the impressionable young man finds solace in the arms of others.
On an late-night excursion with his rowdy group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler more than twice his age. Shrouded in the wavering neon of a neon-lit porn cinema, their initial encounter is intimate and charged, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the shadowy world of the sex trade and narcotics trafficking.
A Portrait of Understanding Instead of Sensationalism
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding as opposed to as a exploitative warning story. Now using the alias Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with brash fearlessness and endearing innocence. To his clients, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, teeming with bustling alleyways and colourful shopfronts, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as adrift individuals hold fast to one another for momentary bliss.
"The city can be fraught with peril, yet they are where they can find their own family, too."
A Complex Relationship of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a sheltering paternal presence to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by jealousy and economic precarity. Dangers posed by shady figures in the criminal underworld are overshadowed by the dread of institutional observation and jail time, represented by the hovering figures of police officers on patrol.
Baby is particularly impactful as a perceptive study of the lost people who have slipped through the gaps the established structure. The film ultimately serves as a heartfelt examination into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the search for self within a unforgiving urban landscape.
