Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of Queer Brazilian Hustlers Adrift in the Established Order
Capturing the urban restlessness and pulsating life of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s bracing drama centres 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) faces a critical turning point; left behind by his parents, the wide-eyed young man discovers refuge in the arms of others.
On an night on the town with his boisterous group of gay and non-binary friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler over double his age. Bathed in the wavering neon of a neon-lit porn cinema, their initial encounter is sensuous and erotic, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the underground scene of the sex trade 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 melodramatic morality play. Now using the alias Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with swaggering confidence and poignant gullibility. To his patrons, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also moments of care.
In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, overflowing with crowded backstreets and brightly painted facades, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as rootless people grasp at one another for fleeting joy.
"The city are riddled with risk, yet they are the place where they can find their own family, too."
A Complicated Relationship of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a sheltering paternal presence to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by possessiveness and economic precarity. Threats from shady figures in the underworld are overshadowed by the fear of government monitoring and jail time, epitomized by the looming presence of police officers in the area.
Baby is especially potent as a perceptive study of the lost people who have been failed by the established structure. The film ultimately serves as a poignant examination into making ends meet, found community, and the pursuit of purpose within a demanding urban landscape.
