Baby Review: An Astute Portrait of Queer Brazilian Survivors Lost in the Established Order
Evoking the metropolitan unease and pulsating life of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s unflinching drama centres on those who exist on the margins of an constantly evolving metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; abandoned by his parents, the impressionable young man discovers refuge in the arms of others.
On an night on the town with his rowdy group of gay and non-binary friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler significantly older than his age. Shrouded in the wavering neon of a XXX cinema, their introductory rendezvous is physical and passionate, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the underground scene of the sex trade and selling drugs.
A Study of Understanding Instead of Sensationalism
Caetano depicts Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy as opposed to as a melodramatic morality play. Now using the alias Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with swaggering confidence and poignant gullibility. To his customers, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, teeming with bustling alleyways and brightly painted facades, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as adrift individuals hold fast to one another for fleeting joy.
"The streets might be filled with danger, 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 bond is sabotaged by envy and financial instability. Dangers posed by shady figures in the shadow economy pale in comparison to the fear of government monitoring and imprisonment, symbolized by the looming presence of police officers on patrol.
Baby is particularly impactful as a perceptive study of the lost people who have slipped through the gaps the established structure. The film stands as a poignant exploration into resilience, found community, and the search for identity within a harsh urban landscape.
