Baby Review: A Sharp Depiction of Queer Brazilian Hustlers Lost in the System
Evoking the city's relentless energy and vibrancy of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's bracing drama focuses on those who inhabit the outskirts of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; abandoned by his parents, the impressionable young man finds solace 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. Bathed in the wavering neon of a XXX cinema, their introductory rendezvous is sensuous and erotic, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the clandestine realm of prostitution and selling drugs.
A Portrait of Understanding Instead of Sensationalism
The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy as opposed to as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now using the alias Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with cocky bravado and endearing innocence. To his clients, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, teeming with crowded backstreets and vibrant storefronts, there’s a persistent isolation, as rootless people cling on to one another for fleeting joy.
"The streets are riddled with risk, yet they are also the space where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complicated Relationship of Love and Control
Ronaldo is both a lover and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by possessiveness and economic precarity. Intimidation from dubious individuals in the criminal underworld pale in comparison to the dread of government monitoring and jail time, represented by the hovering figures of police officers on patrol.
Baby is most powerful as an astute portrait of the lost people who have slipped through the gaps the system. The film functions as a moving exploration into survival, chosen family, and the search for purpose within a unforgiving urban landscape.
