The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of Queer Brazilian Hustlers Adrift in the System
Evoking the city's relentless energy and dynamic spirit of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's gripping drama focuses on those who live on the fringes of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Fresh out of 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 meets Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler over double his age. Shrouded in the flickering glow of a adult movie theater, their introductory rendezvous is sensuous and erotic, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the underground scene of sex work and drug dealing.
A Portrait of Empathy Rather Than Exploitation
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 approaches his transactional encounters with swaggering confidence and endearing innocence. To his patrons, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, teeming with bustling alleyways and vibrant storefronts, there’s a persistent isolation, as rootless people grasp at one another for momentary bliss.
"The urban landscape are riddled with risk, yet they are the place where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complex Relationship of Love and Control
Ronaldo is both a lover and a protective father figure to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by jealousy and financial instability. Intimidation from nefarious characters in the underworld are overshadowed by the fear of state surveillance and imprisonment, represented by the constant sight of police officers on patrol.
Baby is especially potent as a keen observation of the forgotten souls who have been failed by the social system. The film functions as a heartfelt look into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the search for identity within a demanding urban landscape.
