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Channelling the urban restlessness and vibrancy of São Paulo, director Marcelo Caetano's gripping drama focuses on those who live on the fringes of an constantly evolving metropolis. Recently released from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (the actor João Pedro Mariano) finds himself at a crossroads; abandoned by his parents, the innocent young man seeks comfort in the arms of others.

On an night on the town with his boisterous group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington crosses paths with Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a strapping, magnetic hustler over double his age. Illuminated by the flickering glow of a XXX cinema, their first meeting is intimate and charged, with an tinge of peril. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the clandestine realm of the sex trade and narcotics trafficking.

A Study of Understanding Rather Than Exploitation

The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with gentle sympathy rather than as a melodramatic morality play. Now adopting the moniker Baby, he engages in his paid liaisons with swaggering confidence and touching naivety. To his patrons, Wellington lends not only his youth and his body, but also moments of care.

In the feverish excitement of São Paulo, teeming with crowded backstreets and colourful shopfronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as rootless people cling on to one another for fleeting joy.

"The urban landscape can be fraught with peril, yet they are the place where they can forge familial bonds, too."

A Complex Relationship of Love and Control

Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a sheltering paternal presence to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by envy and monetary insecurity. Dangers posed by shady figures in the shadow economy pale in comparison to the fear of government monitoring and imprisonment, symbolized by the hovering figures of police officers on patrol.

Baby is especially potent as a perceptive study of the disenfranchised individuals who have been failed by the established structure. The film stands as a poignant look into making ends meet, non-biological kinship, and the search for purpose within a demanding urban landscape.