Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Hustlers Adrift in the System
Capturing the urban restlessness and pulsating life of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's unflinching drama centres on those who inhabit the outskirts of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Recently released from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; left behind by his parents, the impressionable 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 crosses paths with Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler more than twice his age. Illuminated by 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 shadowy world of the sex trade and selling drugs.
A Study of Empathy Rather Than Exploitation
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy instead of as a melodramatic morality play. Now using the alias Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with brash fearlessness and poignant gullibility. To his clients, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also moments of care.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, teeming with busy lanes and vibrant storefronts, there’s a persistent isolation, as adrift individuals grasp at one another for temporary happiness.
"The streets are fraught with peril, yet they are where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complicated Relationship of Love and Control
Ronaldo is both a lover and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by jealousy and economic precarity. Threats from dubious individuals in the shadow economy seem minor next to the dread of government monitoring and imprisonment, symbolized by the constant sight of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is particularly impactful as an astute portrait of the disenfranchised individuals who have fallen through the cracks the established structure. The film ultimately serves as a poignant exploration into survival, found community, and the search for self within a unforgiving urban landscape.
