🔗 Share this article Baby Review: A Sharp Depiction of Queer Brazilian Hustlers Adrift in the System Capturing the metropolitan unease and pulsating life of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s bracing drama focuses on those who exist on the margins of an constantly evolving metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; deserted by his parents, the wide-eyed young man seeks comfort in the arms of others. On an night on the town with his rowdy group of gay and non-binary friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler significantly older than his age. Shrouded in the wavering neon of a adult movie theater, their first meeting is sensuous and erotic, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the shadowy world of prostitution and drug dealing. A Study of Empathy Instead of Exploitation The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding rather than as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now going by the name of Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with brash fearlessness and poignant gullibility. 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, overflowing with bustling alleyways and colourful shopfronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as rootless people cling on to one another for fleeting joy. "The urban landscape are filled with danger, yet they are the place where they can forge familial bonds, too." A Complex Relationship of Affection and Power Ronaldo is both a lover and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their bond is sabotaged by jealousy and financial instability. Dangers posed by nefarious characters in the criminal underworld seem minor next to the fear of state surveillance and incarceration, epitomized by the looming presence of police officers making their rounds. Baby is especially potent as an astute portrait of the lost people who have fallen through the cracks the established structure. The film stands as a heartfelt exploration into survival, non-biological kinship, and the pursuit of self within a unforgiving urban landscape.