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Channelling the urban restlessness and pulsating life of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's bracing drama zooms in on those who live on the fringes of an constantly evolving metropolis. Newly freed from juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; abandoned by his parents, the wide-eyed young man finds solace in the arms of others.

On an evening out with his boisterous group of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming friends, Wellington meets Ronaldo (actor Ricardo Teodoro), a hunky, charismatic hustler significantly older than his age. Shrouded in the flickering glow of a adult movie theater, their initial encounter is intimate and charged, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the underground scene of sex work and selling drugs.

A Portrait of Understanding Rather Than Sensationalism

The director portrays Wellington’s new life of crime with tender empathy as opposed to as a exploitative warning story. Now using the alias Baby, he enters his commercial trysts with swaggering confidence and touching naivety. To his clients, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also instances of tenderness.

In the hectic energy of São Paulo, filled with bustling alleyways and vibrant storefronts, there’s a deep-seated solitude, as unmoored souls grasp at one another for temporary happiness.

"The streets might be riddled with risk, yet they are also the space where they can forge familial bonds, too."

A Complex Relationship of Love and Control

Ronaldo is at once a romantic interest and a protective father figure to Wellington, but their connection is thrown off course by possessiveness and financial instability. Threats from shady figures in the criminal underworld are overshadowed by the anxiety about state surveillance and incarceration, epitomized by the hovering figures of police officers in the area.

Baby is particularly impactful as a perceptive study of the forgotten souls who have slipped through the gaps the system. The film ultimately serves as a poignant exploration into survival, chosen family, and the search for identity within a harsh urban landscape.