🔗 Share this article The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Depiction of Queer Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the System Channelling the metropolitan unease and vibrancy of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's gripping drama centres on those who exist on the margins of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) stands at a pivotal juncture; abandoned by his parents, the impressionable young man finds solace in the arms of others. On an late-night excursion with his rowdy group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler significantly older than his age. Shrouded in the wavering neon of a neon-lit porn cinema, their initial encounter is sensuous and erotic, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the underground scene of prostitution and drug dealing. A Study of Empathy Instead of Exploitation Caetano depicts Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy instead of as a exploitative warning story. Now going by the name of Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with brash fearlessness and endearing innocence. To his clients, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness. In the hectic energy of São Paulo, teeming with busy lanes and brightly painted facades, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as unmoored souls hold fast to one another for temporary happiness. "The urban landscape can be fraught with peril, yet they are also the space where they can find their own family, too." A Complex Relationship of Love and Control Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by jealousy and monetary insecurity. Dangers posed by dubious individuals in the shadow economy seem minor next to the anxiety about state surveillance and imprisonment, epitomized by the looming presence of police officers in the area. Baby is especially potent as a keen observation of the disenfranchised individuals who have slipped through the gaps the social system. The film stands as a moving examination into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the search for self within a unforgiving urban landscape.