Baby Review: An Astute Depiction of Queer Brazilian Hustlers Adrift in the Established Order
Capturing the urban restlessness and pulsating life of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's bracing drama centres on those who exist on the margins of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Recently released from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; left behind by his parents, the impressionable young man seeks comfort in the arms of others.
On an night on the town with his boisterous group of gay and non-binary friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler over double his age. Illuminated by the pulsating light of a adult movie theater, their first meeting is intimate and charged, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the underground scene of the sex trade and selling drugs.
A Study of Understanding Rather Than 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 enters his commercial trysts with swaggering confidence and poignant gullibility. To his patrons, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, filled with crowded backstreets and vibrant storefronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as unmoored souls grasp at one another for temporary happiness.
"The city can be filled with danger, yet they are the place where they can find their own family, too."
A Complicated Relationship of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by possessiveness and monetary insecurity. Dangers posed by nefarious characters in the criminal underworld seem minor next to the anxiety about government monitoring and jail time, represented by the constant sight of police officers in the area.
Baby is particularly impactful as a keen observation of the forgotten souls who have been failed by the system. The film ultimately serves as a moving exploration into survival, non-biological kinship, and the quest for self within a demanding urban landscape.
