Baby Review: A Sharp Depiction of Queer Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the Established Order
Channelling the city's relentless energy and pulsating life of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's unflinching drama centres on those who exist on the margins of an ever-changing metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; deserted by his parents, the wide-eyed young man discovers refuge in the arms of others.
On an night on the town with his boisterous group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler over double his age. Bathed in the flickering glow of a XXX cinema, their first meeting is sensuous and erotic, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the clandestine realm of prostitution and narcotics trafficking.
A Portrait of Understanding 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 enters his commercial trysts with brash fearlessness and touching naivety. To his patrons, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, teeming with crowded backstreets and colourful shopfronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as rootless people hold fast to one another for momentary bliss.
"The urban landscape are filled with danger, yet they are also the space where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complicated Relationship 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 financial instability. Intimidation from dubious individuals in the criminal underworld seem minor next to the anxiety about state surveillance and jail time, epitomized by the looming presence of police officers in the area.
Baby is most powerful as an astute portrait of the lost people who have fallen through the cracks the social system. The film functions as a heartfelt look into resilience, non-biological kinship, and the quest for purpose within a harsh urban landscape.
