Baby Review: An Astute Portrait of Queer Brazilian Survivors Lost in the Established Order
Capturing the metropolitan unease and pulsating life of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's unflinching drama focuses on those who inhabit the outskirts of an constantly evolving metropolis. Recently released from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; abandoned by his parents, the wide-eyed young man discovers refuge in the arms of others.
On an evening out with his rowdy group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler significantly older than his age. Illuminated by the pulsating light of a neon-lit porn cinema, their initial encounter is intimate and charged, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the shadowy world of the sex trade and selling drugs.
A Study of Empathy Rather Than Sensationalism
Caetano depicts Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy instead of as a exploitative warning story. Now using the alias Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with swaggering confidence and touching naivety. To his clients, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, teeming with bustling alleyways and colourful shopfronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as rootless people cling on to one another for momentary bliss.
"The streets are riddled with risk, yet they are the place where they can discover chosen kin, too."
A Complicated Dynamic of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a protective father figure to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by possessiveness and economic precarity. Threats from nefarious characters in the shadow economy are overshadowed by the dread of institutional observation and incarceration, epitomized by the constant sight of police officers making their rounds.
Baby is most powerful as a perceptive study of the disenfranchised individuals who have slipped through the gaps the established structure. The film stands as a heartfelt examination into resilience, non-biological kinship, and the pursuit of self within a harsh urban landscape.
