The Film Baby Review: An Astute Depiction of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Hustlers Adrift in the System
Evoking the city's relentless energy and vibrancy of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s bracing drama centres on those who live on the fringes of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; deserted by his parents, the impressionable 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 (Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler more than twice his age. Bathed in the flickering glow of a adult movie theater, their introductory rendezvous is physical and passionate, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the shadowy world of sex work and drug dealing.
A Portrait of Understanding Rather Than Exploitation
The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy rather than as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now using the alias Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with swaggering confidence and poignant gullibility. To his customers, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also moments of care.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, teeming with busy lanes and colourful shopfronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as adrift individuals hold fast to one another for momentary bliss.
"The streets can be fraught with peril, yet they are the place where they can find their own family, too."
A Complex Dynamic of Love and Control
Ronaldo is both a lover and a protective father figure to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by envy and economic precarity. Dangers posed by shady figures in the shadow economy pale in comparison to the dread of government monitoring and imprisonment, represented by the constant sight of police officers in the area.
Baby is particularly impactful as a perceptive study of the disenfranchised individuals who have been failed by the social system. The film functions as a heartfelt look into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the search for identity within a unforgiving urban landscape.
