Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Lost in the Established Order
Capturing the urban restlessness and pulsating life of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's bracing drama zooms in on those who inhabit the outskirts of an constantly evolving metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; deserted by his parents, the innocent young man finds solace in the arms of others.
On an evening out with his rowdy group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler over double his age. Bathed in the pulsating light of a neon-lit porn cinema, their first meeting is intimate and charged, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the clandestine realm of sex work and selling drugs.
A Study of Empathy Instead of Sensationalism
The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy as opposed to as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now going by the name of Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with swaggering confidence and endearing innocence. To his clients, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.
In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, teeming with busy lanes and colourful shopfronts, there’s a persistent isolation, as adrift individuals grasp at one another for fleeting joy.
"The streets are fraught with peril, yet they are the place where they can find their own family, too."
A Complex Relationship of Love and Control
Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a protective father figure to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by possessiveness and monetary insecurity. Intimidation from shady figures in the underworld seem minor next to the dread of government monitoring and incarceration, epitomized by the hovering figures of police officers in the area.
Baby is most powerful as a keen observation of the disenfranchised individuals who have been failed by the system. The film stands as a moving examination into resilience, non-biological kinship, and the quest for self within a harsh urban landscape.
