The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the System

Capturing the metropolitan unease and dynamic spirit of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s unflinching drama centres on those who live on the fringes of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Recently released from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; left behind by his parents, the wide-eyed young man seeks comfort in the arms of others.

On an evening out with his rowdy group of gay and non-binary friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler over double his age. Bathed in the flickering glow of a XXX cinema, their initial encounter is physical and passionate, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the shadowy world of the sex trade and drug dealing.

A Portrait of Understanding Instead of Exploitation

The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy instead of as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now going by the name of Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with cocky bravado and endearing innocence. To his customers, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.

In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, teeming with bustling alleyways and colourful shopfronts, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as unmoored souls grasp at one another for temporary happiness.

"The city might be riddled with risk, yet they are where they can discover chosen kin, too."

A Complicated Dynamic of Affection and Power

Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by possessiveness and economic precarity. Intimidation from nefarious characters in the criminal underworld are overshadowed by the dread of state surveillance and incarceration, symbolized by the hovering figures of police officers in the area.

Baby is most powerful as a perceptive study of the forgotten souls who have slipped through the gaps the social system. The film ultimately serves as a poignant look into making ends meet, found community, and the search for identity within a demanding urban landscape.