Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of Queer Brazilian Hustlers Adrift in the System
Capturing the city's relentless energy and pulsating life of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's bracing drama centres on those who exist on the margins of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) stands at a pivotal juncture; deserted by his parents, the impressionable young man seeks comfort in the arms of others.
On an late-night excursion with his lively group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler over double his age. Shrouded in the wavering neon of a XXX cinema, their introductory rendezvous is intimate and charged, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the clandestine realm of sex work and selling drugs.
A Portrait of Understanding Rather Than Sensationalism
The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy instead of as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now using the alias Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with cocky bravado and endearing innocence. To his clients, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, teeming with busy lanes and colourful shopfronts, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as unmoored souls grasp at one another for fleeting joy.
"The city are filled with danger, yet they are the place where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complex Relationship of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is both a lover and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by envy and financial instability. Threats from dubious individuals in the shadow economy are overshadowed by the fear of institutional observation and imprisonment, symbolized by the looming presence of police officers in the area.
Baby is especially potent as an astute portrait of the lost people who have slipped through the gaps the established structure. The film ultimately serves as a moving look into survival, non-biological kinship, and the quest for purpose within a unforgiving urban landscape.
