Club Kid

Multi-hyphenate Jordan Firstman first entered the spotlight as the lead actor in Sebastián Silva’s Rotting in the Sun and recently had to spend the entire press tour for I Love LA apologising to Heated Rivalry fans for an offhand comment about the show. Now the writer, actor and producer presents his feature debut as a director at the Un Certain Regard section in Cannes. Following the footsteps of Pillion the year before, Club Kid promptly becomes the can’t-miss premiere for queer cinephiles at the festival.

In Club Kid, Firstman stars as gold star gay party promoter Peter, whose life is void of any responsibilities but full of drugs and unprotected sex. Approximately a decade after an experimental encounter in a darkroom, he is blindsided by the revelation that the night resulted in a son (introducing Reggie Absolom).

There is no shortage of films built around the idea of consequences catching up to someone years after the fact, nor is the trope of a manchild finding maturity through fatherhood in any way underrepresented. As familiar as the individual elements of Club Kid‘s plot might appear, there is not a second of the film which feels hackneyed or formulaic. Setting this story in the world he knows so well allows him to fully utilise its particularities to the picture’s advantage. There is a charming humour in watching people whose lifestyles virtually never intersect with children suddenly try to bond with one. At the same time, the emotional components are grounded and thoughtfully developed, the blossoming relationship acquired and well-earned.

Non-actor faces of the New York party scene are woven into the feature’s fabric alongside a supporting cast that sports Cara Delevingne and Diego Calva, each contributing their own distinct threads of texture. In the city of the Chinese Hispanic Grocery and pizza sushi places, these characters don’t limit themselves to a single identity and the story thrives on this vibrant energy.

Club Kid is a modern and electric tale of personal growth, which puts Firstman on the map as a filmmaker unafraid to put in the work to reach the emotional payoff he’s after.