The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Depiction of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Lost in the Established Order

Evoking the city's relentless energy and vibrancy of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's unflinching drama focuses 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) stands at a pivotal juncture; left behind by his parents, the impressionable young man discovers refuge in the arms of others.

On an night on the town with his lively group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler more than twice his age. Shrouded in the pulsating light of a neon-lit porn cinema, their introductory rendezvous is intimate and charged, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the clandestine realm of sex work and drug dealing.

A Study of Empathy Instead of Exploitation

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

In the hectic energy of São Paulo, filled with busy lanes and colourful shopfronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as adrift individuals grasp at one another for temporary happiness.

"The streets are riddled with risk, yet they are the place where they can forge familial bonds, too."

A Complicated Relationship of Affection and Power

Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by jealousy and economic precarity. Threats from nefarious characters in the shadow economy pale in comparison to the dread of institutional observation and incarceration, represented by the hovering figures of police officers making their rounds.

Baby is most powerful as a keen observation of the forgotten souls who have been failed by the established structure. The film stands as a poignant exploration into survival, non-biological kinship, and the search for self within a harsh urban landscape.