Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Lost in the System
Channelling the city's relentless energy and vibrancy of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's unflinching drama centres on those who exist on the margins of an constantly evolving metropolis. Recently released from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; deserted by his parents, the impressionable young man discovers refuge in the arms of others.
On an late-night excursion with his lively group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler over double his age. Illuminated by the flickering glow of a neon-lit porn cinema, their introductory rendezvous is intimate and charged, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the underground scene of the sex trade and selling drugs.
A Portrait of Empathy Rather Than Sensationalism
Caetano depicts Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding as opposed to as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now going by the name of Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with swaggering confidence and poignant gullibility. To his clients, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, filled with bustling alleyways and colourful shopfronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as unmoored souls hold fast to one another for temporary happiness.
"The city are riddled with risk, yet they are where they can find their own family, too."
A Complicated Relationship of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is both a lover and a protective father figure to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by possessiveness and financial instability. Dangers posed by shady figures in the criminal underworld are overshadowed by the fear of institutional observation and incarceration, symbolized by the hovering figures of police officers on patrol.
Baby is particularly impactful as a perceptive study of the lost people who have fallen through the cracks the social system. The film stands as a moving look into resilience, chosen family, and the quest for self within a demanding urban landscape.
