The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of Queer Brazilian Survivors Lost in the System

Evoking the metropolitan unease and vibrancy of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's gripping drama focuses on those who live on the fringes of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; deserted by his parents, the impressionable young man discovers refuge in the arms of others.

On an evening out with his boisterous group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler significantly older than his age. Shrouded in the pulsating light of a XXX cinema, their first meeting is physical and passionate, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the clandestine realm of sex work and narcotics trafficking.

A Portrait of Understanding Rather Than Exploitation

The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy rather than as a exploitative warning story. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with swaggering confidence and endearing innocence. To his clients, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also moments of care.

In the hectic energy of São Paulo, filled with crowded backstreets and brightly painted facades, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as adrift individuals grasp at one another for momentary bliss.

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

A Complex Dynamic of Love and Control

Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a protective father figure to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by envy and economic precarity. Intimidation from dubious individuals in the underworld seem minor next to the dread of government monitoring and jail time, represented by the constant sight of police officers on patrol.

Baby is especially potent as a keen observation of the disenfranchised individuals who have slipped through the gaps the social system. The film ultimately serves as a heartfelt examination into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the search for purpose within a harsh urban landscape.