The Film Baby Review: An Astute Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Hustlers Lost in the System
Evoking the metropolitan unease and pulsating life of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s gripping drama centres on those who inhabit the outskirts of an constantly evolving 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 evening out with his boisterous group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler more than twice his age. Bathed in the flickering glow of a adult movie theater, their initial encounter is sensuous and erotic, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the underground scene of the sex trade and drug dealing.
A Study of Understanding Instead of Exploitation
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding rather than as a melodramatic morality play. Now using the alias Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with swaggering confidence and endearing innocence. To his customers, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also moments of care.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, filled with busy lanes and colourful shopfronts, there’s a persistent isolation, as adrift individuals hold fast to one another for fleeting joy.
"The urban landscape might be riddled with risk, yet they are where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complicated Relationship of Love and Control
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a protective father figure to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by possessiveness and financial instability. Dangers posed by dubious individuals in the criminal underworld seem minor next to the dread of state surveillance and jail time, epitomized by the hovering figures of police officers on patrol.
Baby is most powerful as an astute portrait of the lost people who have been failed by the social system. The film ultimately serves as a moving examination into survival, chosen family, and the quest for self within a demanding urban landscape.
