🔗 Share this article Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of Queer Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the Established Order Evoking the city's relentless energy and vibrancy of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's bracing drama centres on those who inhabit the outskirts of an ever-changing metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; left behind by his parents, the impressionable young man finds solace in the arms of others. On an late-night excursion with his boisterous group of gay and non-binary friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler significantly older than his age. Bathed in the flickering glow of a neon-lit porn cinema, their initial encounter is intimate and charged, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the underground scene of the sex trade and selling drugs. A Study of Understanding Rather Than Sensationalism The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy rather than as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now going by the name of Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with brash fearlessness and endearing innocence. To his patrons, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness. In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, overflowing with busy lanes and colourful shopfronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as rootless people grasp at one another for momentary bliss. "The streets can be fraught with peril, yet they are also the space where they can forge familial bonds, too." A Complex Dynamic of Affection and Power Ronaldo is both a lover and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by envy and monetary insecurity. Threats from shady figures in the underworld are overshadowed by the anxiety about state surveillance and imprisonment, epitomized by the looming presence of police officers making their rounds. Baby is especially potent as a keen observation of the lost people who have slipped through the gaps the social system. The film stands as a heartfelt look into survival, chosen family, and the quest for purpose within a harsh urban landscape.