‘Club Kid’ TIFF review: Jordan Firstman’s endearing fatherhood tale
Courtesy of A24/TIFF
If you have ever wondered what a modern-day, inherently queer spin on “Big Daddy” might look like, the answer is something close to Jordan Firstman’s endearing “Club Kid.” A rousing tearjerker that places Firstman firmly in the spotlight, this earnest directorial debut follows a New York club promoter whose carefully prolonged adolescence is interrupted when a 10-year-old boy unexpectedly arrives on his doorstep. It is as much a movie about growing up as it is about realizing how quickly time can pass when your nights are spent staying out until 4 a.m., binge drinking and ingesting copious amounts of drugs. Firstman shows real confidence as a filmmaker, weaving those ideas into a heartfelt story about a man who must finally confront what it means to love someone and allow himself to be loved in return.
Firstman belongs to a new generation of rising comedic stars, having popped up in Rachel Sennott’s “I Love LA” and “English Teacher” after gaining notoriety for the impression videos that went viral during the pandemic. “Club Kid” understands the persona audiences associate with him and initially leans into it. Peter (Firstman) is a loose cannon who nevertheless believes he always has a plan, even when that plan amounts to keeping the party going for as long as possible. The film’s opening stretch plays like an extended montage of his glory days as a club promoter, back when the job seemingly came with attention, access and absolutely no responsibility.
Time, however, catches up with everyone. Firstman communicates that shift through a nearly 15-year jump, after which the first thing we see Peter doing is chugging a bottle of water to nurse another hangover. It is a hilarious visual gag, but it also gets at the melancholy underneath the movie. Peter may still be living the same life, but his body, relationships and surroundings have all started reminding him that he is no longer the person he was when the party began. “Club Kid” is particularly perceptive about the way a lifestyle built around perpetual youth can gradually become a means of avoiding adulthood altogether.
Peter’s routine is finally shattered when Arlo (Reggie Absolom) appears unannounced following the death of his mother, hoping to escape an abusive stepfather. The revelation that Peter may have a son is understandably disorienting, especially for a gay man who never imagined parenthood as part of his future. Suddenly responsible for another human being, Peter initially wants nothing to do with the kid. The film follows many of the familiar beats one would expect from this kind of reluctant-parent story, including the inevitable progression from irritation to attachment, but Firstman approaches that formula with enough affection and sincerity to keep it from feeling entirely secondhand. By the time Peter realizes that he cannot imagine his life without Arlo, their bond feels earned rather than mechanically imposed by the screenplay.
What makes “Club Kid” distinctive is the way it folds queer identity, chosen family and emotional openness into an otherwise recognizable story about an irresponsible man learning to become a parent. It is refreshing to hear a father tell his child, “It’s okay to cry. I cry all the time,” particularly in a movie that directly pushes back against the toxic masculinity Arlo has already encountered. Peter’s New York entourage of trans friends, DJs and fellow queer nightlife fixtures rallies around the boy, gradually forming the kind of unconventional support system he has never had. Their acceptance gives the film its most specific emotional texture and allows “Club Kid” to treat queer community not as something Peter must outgrow, but as one of the very things that makes him capable of raising Arlo.
That distinction matters because a less thoughtful version of this story might have treated parenthood as punishment for Peter’s lifestyle, forcing him to abandon the people, music and spaces that once defined him before he could be considered a responsible adult.
Firstman wisely rejects that false choice. Peter does need to mature, but maturity does not require him to erase himself. Instead, music becomes the bridge connecting Peter and Arlo. The boy’s mother left behind a deep musical knowledge that Peter immediately recognizes, giving the two of them a shared language when ordinary conversation fails. Their growing connection produces some of the film’s softest and most affecting moments, particularly as Arlo begins learning how to DJ and finds a place for himself within Peter’s world.
The transition from a clubbing comedy filled with strobe lights, heavy drug use and anonymous sexual encounters into an unabashedly tender father-son drama could have resulted in severe tonal whiplash. For the most part, Firstman makes the transformation feel organic because Peter’s capacity for love has always existed underneath the chaos. Arlo does not magically turn him into a different person. He gives Peter a reason to stop confusing self-destruction with freedom and to redirect the energy he once poured into the party toward someone who genuinely needs him.
Firstman’s dialogue carries a lived-in sincerity, while the jokes arrive quickly enough to keep the sentiment from becoming overly saccharine. Watching Arlo receive an accelerated education in queer culture and eventually learn the ropes of becoming a DJ gives the story a playful progression alongside its heavier emotional material. Cara Delevingne brings combustible energy to the role of Peter’s chaotic business partner, while Diego Calva provides warmth as Arlo’s social worker, who naturally develops a romantic connection with Peter. Some members of Peter’s entourage remain closer to colorful caricatures than flesh-and-blood people, and the movie occasionally relies too heavily on their eccentricities for easy laughs. That lack of definition keeps the chosen-family dynamic from carrying quite as much dramatic weight as it could.
Nevertheless, “Club Kid” does an impressive job of balancing adulthood and parenthood without suggesting that either requires Peter to compromise his queer identity. The movie understands that becoming a better adult is not about straying from who you are. It is about recognizing which parts of yourself are worth preserving and which habits have prevented you from becoming fully present for the people you love. That idea resonates beautifully throughout this tender and moving film.
Firstman has not reinvented the reluctant-parent formula, and some viewers will be able to predict nearly every emotional turn before it arrives. What he has done is find a perspective that makes the familiar feel personal. When “Club Kid” reaches its big emotional climax, the moment lands because Firstman has patiently earned our investment in Peter and Arlo’s relationship. Beneath the hangovers, flashing lights and pounding music is a disarmingly sincere story about chosen family, emotional responsibility and the realization that growing up does not have to mean leaving your identity behind. It sneaks up on you in all the best ways.
Grade: B+
CLUB KID played at the Toronto International Film Festival. A24 will release it in theaters in November.
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