The Film Baby Review: An Astute Depiction of Queer Brazilian Hustlers Lost in the Established Order

Evoking the city's relentless energy and vibrancy of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's bracing drama centres on those who exist on the margins of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; abandoned by his parents, the impressionable young man discovers refuge in the arms of others.

On an evening out with his lively group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler more than twice his age. Bathed in the pulsating light of a neon-lit porn cinema, their introductory rendezvous is sensuous and erotic, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the clandestine realm of sex work and narcotics trafficking.

A Portrait of Understanding Instead of Exploitation

The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy instead of as a exploitative warning story. Now using the alias Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with cocky bravado and poignant gullibility. To his customers, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.

In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, teeming with crowded backstreets and colourful shopfronts, there’s a persistent isolation, as adrift individuals hold fast to one another for momentary bliss.

"The city are filled with danger, yet they are where they can forge familial bonds, too."

A Complicated Relationship of Love and Control

Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by jealousy and financial instability. Threats from nefarious characters in the shadow economy are overshadowed by the fear of government monitoring and jail time, represented by the constant sight of police officers on patrol.

Baby is especially potent as a perceptive study of the forgotten souls who have slipped through the gaps the system. The film stands as a moving examination into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the search for purpose within a unforgiving urban landscape.