Baby Review: A Sharp Depiction of Queer Brazilian Hustlers Lost in the System
Channelling the urban restlessness and pulsating life of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's bracing drama focuses on those who live on the fringes of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) stands at a pivotal juncture; left behind by his parents, the impressionable young man seeks comfort in the arms of others.
On an late-night excursion with his rowdy group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler more than twice his age. Shrouded in the pulsating light of a neon-lit porn cinema, their introductory rendezvous is intimate and charged, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the shadowy world of the sex trade and selling drugs.
A Study of Empathy Rather Than Exploitation
Caetano depicts Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy rather than as a exploitative warning story. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with swaggering confidence and endearing innocence. To his patrons, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, teeming with crowded backstreets and colourful shopfronts, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as adrift individuals hold fast to one another for temporary happiness.
"The urban landscape might be fraught with peril, yet they are the place where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complicated Dynamic of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a sheltering paternal presence to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by jealousy and monetary insecurity. Threats from shady figures in the underworld pale in comparison to the dread of government monitoring and jail time, symbolized by the constant sight of police officers on patrol.
Baby is particularly impactful as a keen observation of the disenfranchised individuals who have slipped through the gaps the established structure. The film ultimately serves as a heartfelt look into survival, chosen family, and the search for identity within a unforgiving urban landscape.
