🔗 Share this article Baby Review: An Astute Portrait of Queer Brazilian Survivors Adrift in the System Capturing the metropolitan unease and dynamic spirit of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's bracing drama centres on those who inhabit the outskirts of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) stands at a pivotal juncture; abandoned by his parents, the innocent young man seeks comfort in the arms of others. On an night on the town with his lively group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler more than twice his age. Bathed in the flickering glow of a adult movie theater, their initial encounter is intimate and charged, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo swiftly initiates Wellington to the shadowy world of sex work and drug dealing. A Study of Empathy Instead of Sensationalism The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding rather than as a exploitative warning story. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with brash fearlessness and endearing innocence. To his customers, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness. In the hectic energy of São Paulo, filled with crowded backstreets and colourful shopfronts, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as adrift individuals hold fast to one another for fleeting joy. "The streets might be fraught with peril, yet they are where they can find their own family, too." A Complicated Dynamic of Love and Control Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by envy and financial instability. Dangers posed by nefarious characters in the shadow economy are overshadowed by the anxiety about state surveillance and imprisonment, symbolized by the hovering figures of police officers in the area. Baby is most powerful as an astute portrait of the disenfranchised individuals who have slipped through the gaps the social system. The film ultimately serves as a poignant exploration into survival, chosen family, and the search for identity within a demanding urban landscape.