Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Hustlers Lost in the System
Evoking the city's relentless energy and dynamic spirit of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's bracing drama centres on those who live on the fringes of an constantly evolving metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; left behind by his parents, the impressionable young man finds solace in the arms of others.
On an night on the town with his lively group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler significantly older than his age. Shrouded in the wavering neon of a adult movie theater, their initial encounter is intimate and charged, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the underground scene of sex work and selling drugs.
A Study of Empathy Instead of Exploitation
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy as opposed to as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now using the alias Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with brash fearlessness and endearing innocence. To his customers, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, filled with busy lanes and colourful shopfronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as adrift individuals cling on to one another for temporary happiness.
"The streets can be fraught with peril, yet they are where they can discover chosen kin, too."
A Complex Relationship of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by envy and financial instability. Dangers posed by dubious individuals in the criminal underworld pale in comparison to the dread of government monitoring and imprisonment, epitomized by the hovering figures of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is most powerful as a perceptive study of the forgotten souls who have fallen through the cracks the established structure. The film stands as a poignant examination into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the search for identity within a harsh urban landscape.
