Club Kid

Probably the first ever feel-good family comedy to feature jokes about ketamine and fisting, Club Kid is a triumphant debut feature for its writer, director and star Jordan Firstman. The 35-year old New Yorker plays a flamboyantly gay party promoter forced to rethink his hedonistic lifestyle after learning he has a 10-year-old son. From queer to paternity, if you will.

Best known for his self-aware comic skits, impressions and semi-autobiographical character roles, Firstman is a regular cast member on Rachel Sennott’s HBO TV hit I Love LA. But he is working on a broader emotional canvas in this beautifully observed, frequently hilarious celebration of love, family values and queerness in all its forms. Launched to warm reviews in Cannes, Club Kid is currently on a wide promotional tour of film festivals, making its Spanish debut in San Sebastián this week. A24 are planning theatrical roll-out starting in November.

Club Kid plunges us straight in at the deep end with Euphoria cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra’s bravura extended opening shot, a whirling 360-degree panorama which takes place inside a moving cab packed with loud party animals. Firstman is there as Peter, a New York nightclub promoter at the heart of a very druggy, boozy, sexually promiscuous scene. Cara Delevigne is also on board as Peter’s business partner Sophie, alongside the pair’s riotous entourage of transgender DJs, drag queens, scene-makers and groupies.

The debauchery steps up several gears when they reach the club, with copious amounts of ketamine, cocaine and other substances passed around as bass-heavy house music shakes the walls. Firstman captures the sensory overload of clubbing with an authentic eye here: it all looks like fantastic fun, and slightly out of control. At one point, the emphatically gay Peter proudly tells a flirtatious British woman that he has “never touched a vagina in my life”, but the night ends with both of them sharing a blurry three-way sexual encounter.

Firstman then jumps forward a decade, to present-day New York. Thirtysomething Peter is still in the party business, but those endless wild nights are starting to take their toll. He is also falling out with Sophie, who is working to make their club brand more mainstream. In the midst of their friction, Peter receives a surprise visitor from London: Arlo (charming British big-screen novice Reggie Absolom), the cute mop-headed son he never knew he had, conceived during that long-forgotten threesome. Recently orphaned, the boy has suddenly become Peter’s responsibility, much to his horror.

Initially, Peter fights hard to send Arlo back to London. But inevitably, the boy starts to awaken unexpectedly tender feelings in his biological father, and this odd couple gradually form a close bond. Caring for a child also means Peter must finally take responsibility for himself, facing up to the self-esteem and addiction issues behind much of his reckless behaviour. Instead of killer hangovers and casual hook-ups, his schedule is suddenly filled with school admission interviews and social workers. Even as he launches a new club venture, he brings in Arlo as a trainee DJ, warmly encouraged by his new father’s colourful LGBTQ entourage.

Club Kid eventually proves to be a (no pun intended) straighter film than it first appears, its latter half flirting with familiar movie tropes about abnormally wise children helping immature parents to grow up, not to mention corny life lessons about learning to love yourself, finding a soulmate and settling down in domestic bliss. To his credit, Firstman does not swing too far into glib Hollywood sentimentality, resisting the urge to caricature or punish even his most selfish characters, or make value judgments between chosen family and biological family.

Remarkably assured for a debutant director, Firstman barely hits a wrong note in Club Kid, from zingy one-liners to hilarious minor characters, richly eclectic music choices to bittersweet reflections on queer parenting. Taking place in London, the film’s final act also avoids easy happy endings, instead preaching a more messy, inclusive gospel which quietly demands respect for all ages, lifestyles, genders and sexual tastes. It would take a heart of stone, or perhaps a sour MAGA-style worldview, not to warm to this big-hearted comedy gem.

Director, screenwriter: Jordan Firstman
Cast: Jordan Firstman, Reggie Absolom, Cara Delevigne, Diego Calva, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Colleen Camp, Vicki Pepperdine, Nigil Whyte, Eldar Isgandarov, Saturn Risin9, Miss Benny, Alaska Riley
Cinematography: Adam Newport-Berra
Editing: Taylor Levy, Sofia Subercaseaux
Music: Cristobal Tapia De Veer
Producers: Alex Coco, Galen Core, Ben Hannon Hubley, Michael Bloom
Production companies: Topic Studios (US), Stay Golden Features (US)
World sales: A24
Venue: San Sebastián International Film Festival (Perlak)
In English
122 minutes