🔗 Share this article Baby Review: An Astute Depiction of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Survivors Lost in the System Capturing the urban restlessness and vibrancy of São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano’s bracing drama centres on those who live on the fringes of an constantly evolving metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; left behind by his parents, the innocent young man finds solace in the arms of others. On an night on the town with his boisterous group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler over double his age. Shrouded in the pulsating light of a XXX cinema, their introductory rendezvous is physical and passionate, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the underground scene of sex work and drug dealing. A Portrait of Empathy Rather Than Sensationalism The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy rather than as a exploitative warning story. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with swaggering confidence and endearing innocence. To his clients, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also moments of care. In the hectic energy of São Paulo, teeming with busy lanes and colourful shopfronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as unmoored souls cling on to one another for fleeting joy. "The streets might be filled with danger, yet they are where they can forge familial bonds, too." A Complex Relationship of Love and Control Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a protective father figure to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by jealousy and monetary insecurity. Dangers posed by dubious individuals in the underworld are overshadowed by the anxiety about government monitoring and jail time, epitomized by the looming presence of police officers in the area. Baby is especially potent as a perceptive study of the lost people who have slipped through the gaps the established structure. The film functions as a moving exploration into survival, found community, and the quest for self within a demanding urban landscape.