'Club Kid': NY party scene drama emerges as Oscars outsider
- On Friday, November 6, independent film giant A24 releases 'Club Kid,' the directorial debut of writer-actor Jordan Firstman, following a gay party promoter who discovers he is the father of a 10-year-old child.
- Firstman, 35, drew from his own experiences in New York's underground gay club scene, setting the story in 2016 to explore themes of self-respect and LGBTQ identity.
- The film relies on chemistry between Firstman and Reggie Absolom, who portrays his son, Arlo. Critics praise the 122-minute feature for balancing frantic club energy with emotional depth about chosen family.
- Following a bidding war among distributors, the movie gained significant buzz at the Cannes Film Festival in May and secured a 100-percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
- Firstman aimed to produce a queer re-telling of family classics such as 'Kramer vs Kramer,' describing the film as a 'family love story about chosen family.
13 Articles
13 Articles
Big Daddy: How Jordan Firstman Turned ‘Club Kid’ Into a Glorious, Gay, Oscar-Worthy Crowdpleaser
It’s 3 p.m. at the Sunset Tower Hotel, the purgatory hour between lunch and dinner at one of Hollywood’s favorite places to hammer out deals and gaze at stars. Jordan Firstman decides it’s late enough in the day for his first Aperol spritz, which leads to some reminiscing. It was a decade ago that über-producer Greg Berlanti invited the then-25-year-old Firstman to the Tower Bar to discuss the trajectory of his career. Berlanti, who became the…
A favourite in Cannes, award-winning in Deauville, Jordan Firstman's feature film is a film that we're not close to forgetting.
‘Club Kid’ Parties Hard With a Heavy Heart
“Club Kid” is fun. A simple statement, but one that somehow captures the film’s 122-minute sprawling rager of heartbreak and healing. Jordan Firstman’s debut feature, “Club Kid” centers on Peter (Firstman), a club promoter who is barely holding onto his sanity when he discovers he has a 10-year-old son, Arlo (Reggie Absolom). While “Club Kid”...
'Club Kid': NY party scene drama emerges as Oscars outsider
The debut film from Jordan Firstman became one of the buzziest titles at this year's Cannes Film Festival in May, leading to a bidding war among distributors that was won by US independent film giant A24. It has since won awards at festivals, with expectations steadily built by a string of rave reviews that have handed the movie a rare 100-percent rating on aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Firstman, 35, told AFP in an interview ahead of the f…
Jordan Firstman Opens Up with ‘Club Kid,’ His Hilarious, Tender, and Must-See Feature Filmmaking Debut
[Editor’s note: This interview was originally published during the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. A24 will release “Club Kid” in theaters on Friday, November 6.] The official Cannes synopsis for “Club Kid” is almost suspiciously vague: “A washed-up party promoter is forced to turn his life around when an unexpected visitor arrives.” Hmm… Technically, that’s true. But it’s also the kind of carefully evasive logline you can only use if you’re an artis…
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