🔗 Share this article Baby Review: An Astute Depiction of Queer Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the System Capturing the urban restlessness and dynamic spirit of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's unflinching drama focuses on those who inhabit the outskirts of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) stands at a pivotal juncture; left behind by his parents, the impressionable young man seeks comfort in the arms of others. On an evening out with his lively group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler more than twice his age. Illuminated by the flickering glow of a XXX cinema, their introductory rendezvous is sensuous and erotic, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the underground scene of the sex trade and selling drugs. A Portrait of Understanding Instead of Exploitation The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding as opposed to as a exploitative warning story. Now going by the name of Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with cocky bravado and poignant gullibility. To his clients, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness. In the electrifying chaos of São Paulo, teeming with busy lanes and colourful shopfronts, there’s a persistent isolation, as rootless people hold fast to one another for fleeting joy. "The urban landscape might be filled with danger, yet they are also the space where they can forge familial bonds, too." A Complicated Dynamic of Love and Control Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a sheltering paternal presence to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by possessiveness and economic precarity. Dangers posed by shady figures in the criminal underworld seem minor next to the fear of government monitoring and imprisonment, symbolized by the looming presence of police officers on patrol. Baby is particularly impactful as a keen observation of the disenfranchised individuals who have been failed by the system. The film ultimately serves as a moving examination into survival, non-biological kinship, and the pursuit of self within a unforgiving urban landscape.