🔗 Share this article The Film Baby Review: An Astute Portrait of Queer Brazilian Survivors Lost in the System Channelling the urban restlessness and pulsating life of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's gripping drama centres on those who live on the fringes of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; deserted by his parents, the wide-eyed young man seeks comfort 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 significantly older than his age. Illuminated by the wavering neon of a XXX cinema, their initial encounter is sensuous and erotic, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the shadowy world of prostitution and narcotics trafficking. A Portrait of Empathy Rather Than Sensationalism Caetano depicts Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy as opposed to as a melodramatic morality play. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with cocky bravado and endearing innocence. To his clients, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness. 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 streets might be riddled with risk, yet they are the place where they can forge familial bonds, too." A Complicated Relationship of Love and Control Ronaldo is both a lover and a sheltering paternal presence to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by possessiveness and financial instability. Intimidation from nefarious characters in the criminal underworld are overshadowed by the anxiety about state surveillance and imprisonment, epitomized by the constant sight of police officers in the area. Baby is most powerful as an astute portrait of the forgotten souls who have slipped through the gaps the social system. The film stands as a moving exploration into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the quest for self within a unforgiving urban landscape.