The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of Queer Brazilian Hustlers Lost in the System
Channelling the metropolitan unease and pulsating life of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s unflinching drama focuses on those who live on the fringes of an ever-changing metropolis. Recently released 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 seeks comfort in the arms of others.
On an late-night excursion with his boisterous group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler over double his age. Shrouded in the wavering neon of a neon-lit porn cinema, their introductory rendezvous is physical and passionate, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the clandestine realm of prostitution and selling drugs.
A Portrait of Understanding Rather Than Sensationalism
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy rather than as a melodramatic morality play. Now going by the name of Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with swaggering confidence and touching naivety. To his customers, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also moments of care.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, teeming with crowded backstreets and vibrant storefronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as adrift individuals grasp at one another for momentary bliss.
"The streets can be fraught with peril, yet they are the place where they can discover chosen kin, too."
A Complicated Relationship of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is both a lover and a sheltering paternal presence to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by envy and financial instability. Intimidation from shady figures in the criminal underworld seem minor next to the fear of institutional observation and incarceration, epitomized by the hovering figures of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is most powerful as a keen observation of the lost people who have fallen through the cracks the established structure. The film ultimately serves as a moving look into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the search for identity within a demanding urban landscape.
