🔗 Share this article Baby Review: An Astute Depiction of Queer Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the Established Order Channelling the urban restlessness and pulsating life of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s gripping drama focuses on those who exist on the margins of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; abandoned by his parents, the impressionable young man seeks comfort in the arms of others. On an evening out with his boisterous group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler more than twice his age. Shrouded in the wavering neon of a neon-lit porn cinema, their first meeting is sensuous and erotic, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the clandestine realm of prostitution and drug dealing. A Portrait of Understanding Rather Than Exploitation Caetano depicts Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy as opposed to as a melodramatic morality play. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with brash fearlessness and touching naivety. To his customers, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness. In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, overflowing with crowded backstreets and brightly painted facades, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as adrift individuals cling on to one another for fleeting joy. "The urban landscape might be filled with danger, yet they are where they can discover chosen kin, too." A Complex Relationship of Love and Control Ronaldo is both a lover and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by possessiveness and financial instability. Threats from shady figures in the criminal underworld seem minor next to the anxiety about institutional observation and incarceration, represented by the looming presence of police officers making their rounds. Baby is most powerful as an astute portrait of the disenfranchised individuals who have been failed by the social system. The film stands as a poignant examination into making ends meet, chosen family, and the pursuit of identity within a harsh urban landscape.