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 bracing drama centres on those who inhabit the outskirts of an constantly evolving metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; left behind by his parents, the wide-eyed young man finds solace in the arms of others.
On an night on the town with his boisterous group of gay and non-binary friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler over double his age. Shrouded in the flickering glow of a neon-lit porn cinema, their introductory rendezvous is sensuous and erotic, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the underground scene of the sex trade and narcotics trafficking.
A Portrait of Empathy Rather Than Sensationalism
Caetano depicts Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy rather than as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now using the alias Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with swaggering confidence and endearing innocence. To his patrons, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, teeming with bustling alleyways and colourful shopfronts, there’s a persistent isolation, as rootless people cling on to one another for fleeting joy.
"The streets are riddled with risk, yet they are the place where they can discover chosen kin, too."
A Complex Dynamic of Love and Control
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by envy and economic precarity. Threats from shady figures in the shadow economy seem minor next to the anxiety about institutional observation and imprisonment, symbolized by the hovering figures of police officers on patrol.
Baby is particularly impactful as a perceptive study of the disenfranchised individuals who have fallen through the cracks the system. The film functions as a heartfelt exploration into resilience, non-biological kinship, and the pursuit of identity within a unforgiving urban landscape.
