The Film Baby Review: An Astute Depiction of Queer Brazilian Hustlers Adrift in the System
Evoking the urban restlessness and vibrancy of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's unflinching drama focuses on those who exist on the margins of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; abandoned by his parents, the wide-eyed young man finds solace in the arms of others.
On an night on the town with his lively group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler over double his age. Shrouded in the pulsating light of a XXX cinema, their initial encounter is intimate and charged, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the clandestine realm of sex work and selling drugs.
A Portrait of Understanding Rather Than Exploitation
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy instead of as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with swaggering confidence and endearing innocence. To his clients, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, overflowing with bustling alleyways and colourful shopfronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as rootless people cling on to one another for temporary happiness.
"The streets might be fraught with peril, yet they are where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complex Relationship of Love and Control
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a protective father figure to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by envy and financial instability. Dangers posed by shady figures in the shadow economy seem minor next to the dread of institutional observation and incarceration, epitomized by the hovering figures of police officers on patrol.
Baby is particularly impactful as a keen observation of the lost people who have fallen through the cracks the established structure. The film functions as a heartfelt look into making ends meet, chosen family, and the search for self within a unforgiving urban landscape.