Baby Review: An Astute Depiction of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Hustlers Adrift in the System

Evoking the metropolitan unease and pulsating life of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s gripping drama zooms in on those who inhabit the outskirts of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Recently released from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; deserted by his parents, the impressionable young man discovers refuge in the arms of others.

On an evening out with his boisterous group of gay and non-binary friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler more than twice his age. Illuminated by the pulsating light of a adult movie theater, their introductory rendezvous is sensuous and erotic, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the underground scene of sex work and drug dealing.

A Study of Empathy Rather Than Exploitation

Caetano depicts Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy instead of as a exploitative warning story. Now using the alias Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with swaggering confidence and touching naivety. To his clients, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness.

In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, filled with busy lanes and colourful shopfronts, there’s a persistent isolation, as rootless people hold fast to one another for temporary happiness.

"The urban landscape might be filled with danger, yet they are also the space where they can discover chosen kin, too."

A Complicated Relationship of Love and Control

Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a protective father figure to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by possessiveness and financial instability. Threats from shady figures in the shadow economy pale in comparison to the dread of state surveillance and jail time, represented by the constant sight of police officers in the area.

Baby is especially potent as a perceptive study of the lost people who have fallen through the cracks the social system. The film stands as a moving examination into making ends meet, found community, and the search for identity within a unforgiving urban landscape.