The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of Queer Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the Established Order
Evoking the urban restlessness and vibrancy of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's unflinching drama zooms in on those who exist on the margins of an ever-changing metropolis. Recently released from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; left behind by his parents, the wide-eyed young man discovers refuge in the arms of others.
On an late-night excursion with his boisterous group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler over double his age. Shrouded in the wavering neon of a adult movie theater, their first meeting is physical and passionate, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the underground scene of the sex trade and drug dealing.
A Study of Empathy Rather Than Exploitation
Caetano depicts Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy instead of as a exploitative warning story. Now using the alias Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with swaggering confidence and touching naivety. To his clients, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also moments of care.
In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, filled with crowded backstreets and brightly painted facades, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as adrift individuals hold fast to one another for fleeting joy.
"The city can be riddled with risk, yet they are also the space where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complicated Dynamic of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a sheltering paternal presence to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by envy and financial instability. Dangers posed by dubious individuals in the shadow economy are overshadowed by the anxiety about institutional observation and incarceration, epitomized by the hovering figures of police officers on patrol.
Baby is especially potent as a keen observation of the disenfranchised individuals who have slipped through the gaps the social system. The film ultimately serves as a poignant examination into survival, found community, and the quest for identity within a harsh urban landscape.
