By John Corrado
Director, writer and star Jordan Firstman delivers an accomplished debut feature with Club Kid, a major crowdpleaser which plays like the gay, indie, A24-backed answer to Adam Sandler’s Big Daddy. And it’s something special.
Firstman stars in the film as Peter, a club promoter in New York City who is living a drug-fuelled, hard-partying lifestyle. That all changes when a ten-year-old boy named Arlo (Reggie Absolom) arrives from England. Arlo is the son that Peter never knew he had, the product of that one time when he drunkenly hooked up with a British girl. Arlo is a precocious kid with surprisingly mature music taste, but also carrying a level of trauma from everything he has been through.
Watching Club Kid feels like witnessing a major star-is-born moment for Firstman as a writer, director and also leading man. As Peter, Firstman has written himself a standout role, one that allows him to be equally convincing in the comedic and dramatic scenes. He’s backed up by a wonderful supporting turn from young Absolom, who is a complete natural onscreen, and develops great chemistry with Firstman.
Firstman also does a good job of fleshing out this world with an eclectic, often amusing supporting cast made up of Peter’s queer found family. Diego Calva additionally provides a warm presence as a social worker who enters the lives of Peter and Arlo. Meanwhile, Cara Delevingne is given a surprisingly more complex role as Peter’s former colleague in the club scene.
If Club Kid charts an unconventional path to parenthood, it also has a surprisingly wholesome message about how having a kid ultimately changes you for the better. Arlo helps Peter come to the realization that he can’t continue being the coked out party boy, and has to mature at a certain point and leave this life behind. Yes, Firstman is doing the delayed coming-of-age thing here, but does so in a way that doesn’t feel preachy.
Firstman delivers the delightful, crowd-pleasing comedy, but he also crucially nails the necessary shift into more serious, dramatic territory. The film delivers an emotional impact by the end that allows it to resonate. It’s laugh-out-loud funny, but pretty moving as well, a balance that Firstman deftly handles through his surprisingly assured direction.
Shot on 35mm film by cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra, the film also credibly captures the aesthetic of New York, from pulsating club scenes to city streets. It’s a wholly impressive debut feature, and one of the best movies of the year.
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