‘Club Kid’ review: Jordan Firstman’s queer drama is triumphant, acidic portrait of New York’s gay scene

Dir/scr. Jordan Firstman. USA. 2026. 119mins

New York gay club promoter Peter (Jordan Firstman) is the kind of person who is always the last to leave the party. But since this particular party has been raging for over a decade, he’s beginning to run out of juice. A change is overdue; even Peter, trapped in the whirl of the never-ending night, realises this. But the discovery that he has a 10-year-old son, Arlo (Reggie Absolom), the result of a long-forgotten threesome, was not the change he had in mind. Jordan Firstman’s crowdpleasing queer family drama is a triumph – an acidic, spikily funny portrait of New York’s hedonistic gay scene which celebrates empathy, community and the unconditional love between a father and his son.

Could prove to be a breakout indie hit

Evoked in all its dissolute glamour and populated by fabulous fuck ups, this is a world that comedian, internet personality and actor Firstman, the star of HBO’s I Love L.A., evidently knows intimately. His depiction of queer party culture is loving, authentic and non-judgemental, but also realistic enough not to gloss over the inevitable comedowns that follow the chemically-fuelled highs. This is proudly LGBTQ+ cinema, but also a picture that should have appeal far beyond that core audience and could prove to be a breakout indie hit. The producing credits include Academy Award-winner Alex Coco, who produced Sean Baker’s Anora, another New York story driven by maverick energy and unexpected empathy and sincerity. On the strength of this joyous, raw comedy drama, Firstman could be a significant talent to watch in US indie cinema.

Shot on 35mm by Adam Newport-Berra, the film plunges us headlong into the best party on the planet. There’s an ambitious opening shot, a dizzying 360-degree pan from the centre of an Uber that sweeps repeatedly around the revellers within, and the impassive driver stoically ignoring the bad behaviour in the back seat. It’s the first night of a party promoted by Peter and his business partner Sophie (Cara Delevigne), who have have conquered this world. Everybody wants to know them; the drugs are free and plentiful; the music is banging (kudos to whoever curated the film’s soundtrack choices); the party people are beautiful and loose.

In a sea of faces, Peter is accosted by a drunk British girl whose accent he mocks (“Innit, babes?” becomes an in-joke). She’s a temporary irritation, a fan who buys a moment of his attention with a line of coke. But later on, when boundaries have blurred and the venue is swimming in and out of focus, Peter encounters her again.

Ten years later and Peter is still the life of a party that is less flatteringly lit and just a touch more grimy. There’s a smeared quality to the light, it looks like slept-in make-up. He shares his apartment with a needy, limpet-like lodger, an aspiring queer philosopher from Azerbaijan named Nicky (a riotously funny Eldar Isgandarov). And what little respect Peter once had for the ravaged man in the mirror of the bathrooms where he sells bumps of coke and ket has long since vanished. Two bombshells drop in his life in quick succession: Sophie ousts him from their partnership. And a stranger from London turns up with a quiet, curly-haired child: his son.

The connection between Peter and Arlo is tentative at first, but the chemistry between Firstman and Absolom is palpable from the outset. They work wonderfully well together, with the sweet, guileless quality in the child allowing the jaded man to find his own innocence again. They bond over music; through Arlo’s eyes, Peter falls in love with New York all over again. Then there’s the bonus that Arlo’s social worker (Diego Calva) is insanely handsome. The emotional impact of the story cuts through the noise and chaos of the party, delivering a knockout bittersweet ending. All this, plus jokes about fisting too.