The Film Baby Review: An Astute Portrait of Queer Brazilian Hustlers Adrift in the Established Order
Capturing the city's relentless energy and pulsating life of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's bracing drama centres on those who exist on the margins of an ever-changing metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; deserted by his parents, the wide-eyed young man finds solace in the arms of others.
On an evening out with his rowdy group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler over double his age. Bathed in the wavering neon of a XXX cinema, their introductory rendezvous is physical and passionate, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the clandestine realm of prostitution and narcotics trafficking.
A Study of Empathy Rather Than Exploitation
Caetano depicts Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding instead of as a exploitative warning story. Now adopting the moniker 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 instances of tenderness.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, filled with bustling alleyways and colourful shopfronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as rootless people cling on to one another for fleeting joy.
"The city can be fraught with peril, yet they are where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complex Relationship of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by envy and monetary insecurity. Dangers posed by shady figures in the underworld are overshadowed by the anxiety about government monitoring and imprisonment, epitomized by the constant sight of police officers in the area.
Baby is particularly impactful as a perceptive study of the lost people who have slipped through the gaps the system. The film functions as a poignant look into survival, non-biological kinship, and the pursuit of identity within a demanding urban landscape.
