A gentle family drama told in the style of a sleazy New York indie, Jordan Firstman’s Club Kid is one of the year’s most self-assured gems. Picked up by A24 out of the Cannes Film Festival, Firstman’s directorial debut features him in the lead role of Peter Green, a washed-up gay Jewish club promoter who, at a personal and professional low point, discovers he has a ten-year-old son. The coming-of-(middle)-age story unfolds in and around New York’s bustling queer underground, which forms the colorful backdrop for a film of intimate emotional discovery, subdued heartache, and unexpectedly finding yourself through someone else’s eyes.
Opening ten years in the past with all the energy and misty allure of William Friedkin’s leather thriller, Cruising, the 35mm-shot Club Kid recreates the dim celluloid haze of ’70s and ’80s New York City with a more contemporary, upbeat lens. With one foot planted in queer culture’s past, Firstman depicts its liberated present through a hedonistic underground rave Peter organizes and attends, introducing us along the way to the movie’s catty ensemble. This includes his promoter business partner, Sophie (Cara Delevingne); his supportive ex-boyfriend, Devon (Nigil Whyte); and his ferocious trans DJ pal, Saffron (Saturn Risin9), among a cavalcade of other lively queens.
A drug-fueled threesome that evening, which Peter barely remembers, comes roaring back ten years down the line when an acquaintance from London drops off his surprise ten-year-old son, Arlo (Reggie Absolom). The kid’s mother has died, leaving him with no one else. Despite this morbid premise, Club Kid floats on a fabric of lurid, self-effacing comedy rooted entirely in character and community, starting with the gay Azerbaijanian teen and wannabe-philosopher, Nicky (Eldar Isgandarov), who Peter houses despite his own financial woes, and continuing through the aforementioned supporting characters introduced a decade prior, who all remain in Peter’s life.
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