The Film Baby Film Analysis: An Astute Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Hustlers Lost in the System
Evoking the urban restlessness and pulsating life of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's bracing drama focuses on those who exist on the margins of an constantly evolving metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; deserted by his parents, the wide-eyed young man finds solace in the arms of others.
On an evening out with his lively group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler over double his age. Shrouded in the wavering neon of a XXX cinema, their initial encounter is intimate and charged, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the shadowy world of prostitution and selling drugs.
A Portrait of Understanding Rather Than Sensationalism
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy as opposed to as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now using the alias Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with brash fearlessness and touching naivety. To his patrons, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also moments of care.
In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, filled with crowded backstreets and colourful shopfronts, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as rootless people grasp at one another for temporary happiness.
"The city are riddled with risk, yet they are also the space where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complex Relationship of Affection and Power
Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a sheltering paternal presence to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by envy and economic precarity. Threats from dubious individuals in the underworld seem minor next to the dread of state surveillance and jail time, epitomized by the looming presence of police officers in the area.
Baby is most powerful as a perceptive study of the forgotten souls who have slipped through the gaps the system. The film ultimately serves as a poignant look into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the search for purpose within a demanding urban landscape.
