🔗 Share this article The Film Baby Review: An Astute Portrait of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Hustlers Adrift in the System Capturing the metropolitan unease and pulsating life of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's gripping drama focuses on those who live on the fringes of an ever-changing metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) stands at a pivotal juncture; left behind by his parents, the impressionable young man discovers refuge in the arms of others. On an night on the town with his lively group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler over double his age. Shrouded in the flickering glow of a neon-lit porn cinema, their first meeting is sensuous and erotic, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the underground scene of prostitution and selling drugs. A Study of Empathy Rather Than Sensationalism The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy instead of as a melodramatic morality play. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with brash fearlessness and touching naivety. To his customers, Wellington provides not just his youth and his body, but also moments of care. In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, overflowing with crowded backstreets and colourful shopfronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as adrift individuals hold fast to one another for fleeting joy. "The streets are riddled with risk, yet they are where they can forge familial bonds, too." A Complex Dynamic of Affection and Power Ronaldo is both a lover and a protective father figure to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by jealousy and monetary insecurity. Intimidation from dubious individuals in the criminal underworld seem minor next to the anxiety about institutional observation and incarceration, represented by the looming presence of police officers on patrol. Baby is particularly impactful as an astute portrait of the forgotten souls who have slipped through the gaps the established structure. The film stands as a poignant look into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the quest for self within a harsh urban landscape.