Baby Review: An Astute Depiction of Queer Brazilian Survivors Lost in the System
Evoking the urban restlessness and dynamic spirit of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's gripping drama zooms in on those who inhabit the outskirts of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; left behind by his parents, the wide-eyed young man finds solace in the arms of others.
On an night on the town with his boisterous group of gay and non-binary friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler over double his age. Bathed in the pulsating light of a adult movie theater, their introductory rendezvous is sensuous and erotic, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the underground scene of sex work and drug dealing.
A Portrait of Understanding Instead of Exploitation
Caetano depicts Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy as opposed to as a exploitative warning story. Now using the alias Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with cocky bravado and poignant gullibility. To his customers, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, overflowing with bustling alleyways and vibrant storefronts, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as rootless people grasp at one another for fleeting joy.
"The streets might be filled with danger, yet they are the place where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complicated Dynamic of Love and Control
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by possessiveness and economic precarity. Intimidation from nefarious characters in the criminal underworld seem minor next to the dread of institutional observation and jail time, epitomized by the constant sight of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is particularly impactful as an astute portrait of the disenfranchised individuals who have slipped through the gaps the system. The film stands as a moving examination into survival, non-biological kinship, and the quest for identity within a harsh urban landscape.
