Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of Queer Brazilian Hustlers Adrift in the Established Order
Evoking the urban restlessness and pulsating life of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s unflinching drama zooms in on those who live on the fringes of an ever-changing metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; deserted by his parents, the innocent young man seeks comfort in the arms of others.
On an late-night excursion with his rowdy group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler more than twice his age. Shrouded in the wavering neon of a XXX cinema, their first meeting is sensuous and erotic, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the shadowy world of the sex trade and narcotics trafficking.
A Study of Empathy Instead of Sensationalism
The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy instead of as a melodramatic morality play. Now using the alias Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with brash fearlessness and poignant gullibility. To his clients, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.
In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, teeming with crowded backstreets and brightly painted facades, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as adrift individuals cling on to one another for fleeting joy.
"The streets are filled with danger, yet they are where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complex Relationship of Love and Control
Ronaldo is both a lover and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by envy and economic precarity. Dangers posed by nefarious characters in the criminal underworld pale in comparison to the dread of government monitoring and imprisonment, represented by the looming presence of police officers on patrol.
Baby is most powerful as a perceptive study of the lost people who have been failed by the established structure. The film stands as a poignant look into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the pursuit of self within a harsh urban landscape.
