Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of Queer Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the Established Order
Channelling the urban restlessness and dynamic spirit of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s bracing drama focuses on those who exist on the margins of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Recently released 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 late-night excursion with his boisterous group of gay 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 sensuous and erotic, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the clandestine realm of the sex trade and narcotics trafficking.
A Portrait of Understanding Rather Than Exploitation
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy as opposed to as a melodramatic morality play. Now going by the name of Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with cocky bravado and poignant gullibility. To his patrons, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also moments of care.
In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, overflowing with bustling alleyways and brightly painted facades, there’s a persistent isolation, as unmoored souls hold fast to one another for momentary bliss.
"The urban landscape are 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 guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by envy and economic precarity. Intimidation from shady figures in the underworld seem minor next to the dread of institutional observation and jail time, epitomized by the constant sight of police officers in the area.
Baby is especially potent as a perceptive study of the disenfranchised individuals who have slipped through the gaps the established structure. The film ultimately serves as a moving examination into survival, found community, and the search for purpose within a unforgiving urban landscape.
