The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the System
Channelling the urban restlessness and pulsating life of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's gripping drama focuses on those who inhabit the outskirts of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Recently released from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) stands at a pivotal juncture; deserted by his parents, the impressionable young man finds solace in the arms of others.
On an evening out with his boisterous group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler over double his age. Bathed in the flickering glow of a adult movie theater, their first meeting is sensuous and erotic, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the underground scene of the sex trade and selling drugs.
A Study of Understanding Instead of Exploitation
The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy instead of as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now using the alias Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with swaggering confidence and poignant gullibility. To his customers, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, teeming with busy lanes and vibrant storefronts, there’s a persistent isolation, as rootless people grasp at one another for momentary bliss.
"The city can be riddled with risk, yet they are the place where they can find their own family, too."
A Complicated Relationship of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is both a lover and a sheltering paternal presence to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by possessiveness and financial instability. Dangers posed by nefarious characters in the criminal underworld seem minor next to the dread of state surveillance and imprisonment, epitomized by the hovering figures of police officers in the area.
Baby is most powerful as a perceptive study of the lost people who have been failed by the social system. The film ultimately serves as a moving examination into making ends meet, found community, and the quest for identity within a unforgiving urban landscape.
