Baby

Filled with moments of surprising tenderness, writer/director Marcelo Caetano's vibrant new Brazilian drama is a colourful, empathetic ode to found family, and a superb homage to the city of São Paulo and the people who struggle to survive in it. São Paulo's streets can offer danger or opportunity, and for Wellington (aka Baby), they deliver both. After being released from a juvenile detention center, 18-year-old Baby (João Pedro Mariano) finds himself alone and adrift, without any contact from his parents and lacking the resources to rebuild his life. He encounters Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a mature and handsome sex worker, who takes him under his wing and teaches him new ways of surviving. Gradually, their fiery relationship turns into a conflicting passion, oscillating between exploitation and protection, jealousy and complicity, and as he’s drawn further into Ronaldo’s world, Wellington must decide what he really wants from life.