🔗 Share this article Baby Film Analysis: A Sharp Depiction of LGBTQ+ Brazilian Hustlers Lost in the Established Order Channelling the urban restlessness and vibrancy of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's bracing drama centres on those who inhabit the outskirts of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Recently released from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; abandoned by his parents, the impressionable young man finds solace in the arms of others. On an late-night excursion with his rowdy group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler more than twice his age. Bathed in the wavering neon of a neon-lit porn cinema, their first meeting is sensuous and erotic, with an edge of danger. Ronaldo quickly introduces Wellington to the shadowy world of sex work and drug dealing. A Portrait of Empathy Instead of Exploitation The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy instead of as a sensationalist cautionary tale. Now going by the name of Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with cocky bravado and poignant gullibility. To his patrons, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also fleeting acts of kindness. In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, overflowing with bustling alleyways and vibrant storefronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as adrift individuals grasp at one another for fleeting joy. "The streets are fraught with peril, yet they are the place where they can discover chosen kin, too." A Complicated Relationship of Affection and Power Ronaldo is both a lover and a protective father figure to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by possessiveness and economic precarity. Dangers posed by shady figures in the underworld seem minor next to the dread of institutional observation and imprisonment, symbolized by the looming presence of police officers making their rounds. Baby is particularly impactful as a keen observation of the lost people who have slipped through the gaps the system. The film functions as a poignant examination into survival, non-biological kinship, and the pursuit of identity within a harsh urban landscape.