It remains frequently astonishing how vital different viewpoints of the queer experience have become across various forms of media. Portuguese-language Baby presents an unvarnished peek into the tumultuous life of a barely-legal gay teenager in Brazil. Where are people supposed to go after being released from a juvenile detention facility when their parents ghost them? Under the careful direction of writer/director Marcelo Caetano, the city of São Paulo, Brazil, becomes a character all its own. Pairing nicely with this year’s sex worker thriller, Sebastian, this poignant reflection on exploitation and the search for identity at least manages to keep an aura of positivity in the midst of life’s many curveballs.
Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) has just been released for committing an undisclosed crime, forced to navigate life on the streets. Utterly directionless at first, Wellington soon finds himself homeless, forced to sleep on benches and drift from place to place. Even his former friends accost him about having disappeared for months while being locked up. A visit to a porno theater presents a potential opportunity for Wellington both personally and professionally. There, eighteen-year-old Wellington meets the alluring Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a forty-two-year-old escort who also sells money for drugs. Given Wellington’s youthful appearance, Ronaldo suggests survival by selling his body for money.
Given the darkness and complexity of homelessness, prostitution, and drug addiction, the script from Marcelo Caetano and Gabriel Domingues manages to dodge pratfalls of the average drama. They portray Wellington—who goes by his escort name of ‘Baby’ for a decent chunk of the film—as being naive but never frustratingly so. When Wellington starts making the big decisions for himself, there is a real thrust to his actions. Moreover, Wellington’s relationship with Ronaldo also receives the complexity deserving of a real life coupling. They are at times toxic, at others sexual, but never are their interactions painted in simply black and white. Ronaldo’s mentorship in a way gives Wellington the fatherly figure he never had in his own life. His parents are the ghosts of his past, always absent, and Wellington’s father in particular seems to have been disdainful of Wellington’s sexual preference. Wellington burrows deeper into Ronaldo’s life, including meeting his family, engaging in danger-tinged voyeuristic sex, and becoming further entrenched in his world.
Wellington appears to be caught in a cycle of poverty, unable to escape without repeating what got him locked up in the first place. São Paulo, Brazil, seems an unforgiving, if colorful, locale to set these characters free. In exploring the heavier themes, Wellington’s toothy smile and genuine charisma constantly keeps the darkness at bay. His battle for survival comes punctuated with a surprising hopefulness rarely seen in this type of film. Far beyond the queer trauma at its center, Baby evolves into a meaningful, bubbling depiction of underground queer life in Brazil. Grounded by João Pedro Mariano’s lovable performance, there will be plenty to love for fans of coming-of-age gay dramas.
Baby screened at 2024’s NewFest.
