Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the Established Order

Capturing the metropolitan unease and vibrancy of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's unflinching drama centres on those who inhabit the outskirts of an ever-changing metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; deserted by his parents, the wide-eyed young man discovers refuge in the arms of others.

On an night on the town with his lively 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 pulsating light of a XXX cinema, their first meeting is intimate and charged, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the underground scene of the sex trade and drug dealing.

A Portrait of Empathy Rather Than Exploitation

The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding as opposed to as a melodramatic morality play. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with cocky bravado and poignant gullibility. To his patrons, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also moments of care.

In the hectic energy of São Paulo, filled with bustling alleyways and brightly painted facades, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as unmoored souls hold fast to one another for momentary bliss.

"The streets might be filled with danger, yet they are where they can forge familial bonds, too."

A Complex Relationship of Affection and Power

Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by possessiveness and monetary insecurity. Intimidation from shady figures in the criminal underworld seem minor next to the fear of institutional observation and incarceration, epitomized by the looming presence of police officers making their rounds.

Baby is particularly impactful as a keen observation of the disenfranchised individuals who have slipped through the gaps the social system. The film functions as a moving exploration into survival, non-biological kinship, and the pursuit of identity within a unforgiving urban landscape.