There’s nothing more euphoric than walking into a screening of a film that has received universal acclaim and somehow watching it surpass those already heightened expectations. It’s not a feeling that happens often, but when it does, damn does it feel good. It’s a feeling I can always point to when talking about the magic of movies and why we continue chasing that next unforgettable experience. When a film hits your emotional core in a way you never expected, it deserves to be shouted about from the mountaintop. Those are the movies that remind you why you fell in love with movies in the first place. Every once in a while, a film comes along that completely catches you off guard, breaks through whatever expectations you walked in with and leaves you sitting there as the credits roll knowing you just experienced something special. For me, Club Kid was exactly that.
Club Kid is essentially A24’s Big Daddy. A film that takes a story we’ve seen time and time again and showcases it in a uniquely fresh and edgy fashion. There’s an undeniable energy running throughout, but underneath all the style, humor and chaos is an enormous amount of heart that slowly sneaks up on you and ultimately becomes the film’s secret weapon, while announcing Jordan Firstman as one of our most fascinating new filmmakers.
At the center of Club Kid is Peter Green, a longtime New York City club promoter whose entire existence has revolved around late nights, drugs and an endless party that has clearly started to lose its luster. But Peter’s chaotic lifestyle is flipped completely upside down when a young boy named Arlo unexpectedly arrives at his doorstep. As it turns out, a sexual encounter Peter barely remembers from a decade earlier resulted in a son he never knew existed.
Following the tragic death of Arlo’s mother, Peter suddenly finds himself responsible for a child despite being about as far from father material as you could possibly imagine. What begins as an unwanted disruption to the life Peter has always known slowly develops into something neither he nor the audience expects, as this unlikely pairing forces him to confront the person he has become and whether there might actually be something more meaningful waiting beyond the party.
Jordan Firstman’s screenplay, direction, and performance are nothing short of stunning. Club Kid’s screenplay is filled with heart, hilarity, and genuine stakes, but what works so well about Firstman’s writing is how the film’s emotional build coincides with Peter’s growing love for Arlo. The deeper Peter falls into this unexpected role, the more the film begins to reveal what has been hiding underneath all the chaos and comedy. There’s something incredibly rewarding about watching a screenplay slowly build toward an emotional crescendo, and by its conclusion, Club Kid wears its heart completely on its sleeve. Yet Firstman never sacrifices the humor or edge that makes the film so uniquely entertaining in the first place. He finds that difficult balance between making you laugh and completely investing you in these characters, creating one of the year’s most hilarious, heartfelt, and effective crowd-pleasers.
Going toe-to-toe with Firstman is Reggie Absolom, who brings such charm and heart to Arlo. His performance echoes the feelings I had watching Woody Norman in C’mon C’mon, ironically at NYFF a few years ago. Alongside Absolom, I adored the smaller supporting turns from Diego Calva and Cara Delevingne. As a proud member of the Babylon hive, it’s always rewarding to see Calva sink his teeth into a performance, while Delevingne is someone whose work I’ve never fully embraced, but I really enjoyed what she brings here. Finally, the queen Colleen Camp is sprinkled throughout the film, and I’ll just say it: every movie deserves a sprinkle of Colleen Camp.
Juan Cristóbal Tapia de Veer’s score is effective, but there’s no denying that the needle drops throughout the film’s two-hour runtime are absolute bangers. It’s a playlist that will surely be on heavy rotation once I decipher all the songs. Adam Newport-Berra’s cinematography captures a gritty, lived-in New York with such authenticity, and as cliché as it sounds, when New York feels like a character itself, you know your movie is cooking.
By the time the credits rolled, Club Kid had completely won me over. What begins as a chaotic, edgy and hilarious spin on a story we’ve seen countless times slowly reveals itself to be something far more sincere, emotionally rich and downright beautiful. Firstman understands that underneath the parties, drugs, needle drops and New York City madness, this is ultimately a story about two people unexpectedly finding exactly what they needed in each other. Maybe calling it A24’s Big Daddy sounds insane, but damn it, I’m sticking with it. Club Kid made me laugh, broke down my defenses and eventually hit that emotional core I talked about from the very beginning. Those moviegoing experiences don’t come around nearly enough, and when they do, you hold onto them. NYFF 64 may have only just started, but Club Kid has already set one hell of a bar to clear.
