The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Depiction of Queer Brazilian Survivors Lost in the Established Order
Evoking the urban restlessness and dynamic spirit of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's unflinching drama focuses on those who live on the fringes of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; deserted by his parents, the wide-eyed young man discovers refuge in the arms of others.
On an evening out with his boisterous group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler significantly older than his age. Shrouded in the flickering glow of a neon-lit porn cinema, their initial encounter is intimate and charged, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the underground scene of sex work and selling drugs.
A Portrait of Empathy Rather Than Sensationalism
The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy rather than as a melodramatic morality play. Now going by the name of Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with brash fearlessness 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, teeming with busy lanes and colourful shopfronts, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as unmoored souls grasp at one another for momentary bliss.
"The urban landscape can be riddled with risk, yet they are also the space where they can discover chosen kin, too."
A Complicated Relationship of Love and Control
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by jealousy and economic precarity. Threats from shady figures in the shadow economy seem minor next to the dread of government monitoring and imprisonment, symbolized by the hovering figures of police officers in the area.
Baby is most powerful as an astute portrait of the lost people who have been failed by the established structure. The film ultimately serves as a heartfelt look into survival, non-biological kinship, and the pursuit of purpose within a harsh urban landscape.
