The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of Queer Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the System
Evoking the metropolitan unease and pulsating life of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's bracing drama focuses 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) faces a critical turning point; deserted by his parents, the innocent young man seeks comfort in the arms of others.
On an night on the town with his lively group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler more than twice his age. Illuminated by the wavering neon of a XXX cinema, their initial encounter is physical and passionate, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the underground scene of the sex trade and drug dealing.
A Portrait of Understanding Rather Than Sensationalism
The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding rather than as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters 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 hectic energy of São Paulo, teeming with crowded backstreets and brightly painted facades, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as adrift individuals hold fast to one another for fleeting joy.
"The streets are riddled with risk, yet they are the place where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complicated Dynamic of Love and Control
Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a protective father figure to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by envy and economic precarity. Threats from shady figures in the underworld are overshadowed by the fear of institutional observation and jail time, represented by the constant sight of police officers on patrol.
Baby is most powerful as a keen observation of the lost people who have slipped through the gaps the social system. The film ultimately serves as a poignant exploration into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the pursuit of identity within a demanding urban landscape.
