Jordan Firstman's Club Kid Makes Fatherhood Its Heart — SkimNews
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- Jordan Firstman made his feature writing/directing debut with “Club Kid,” also starring as Peter, a semi-autobiographical New York party promoter whose more-than-a-decade cycle of MDMA, GHB and other drug use has become repeated shame and regret.
- Peter learns from Edison that eight-year-old Arlo is his son and that the boy’s mother—one of the women from his 2016 encounter—has died, forcing him into sudden fatherhood in the rent-controlled Manhattan apartment his own mother left him.
- Club Kid shifts from a drug-heavy Brooklyn party story into a found-family drama: Peter reduces his drug use, shields Arlo from his friends’ drug use and begins a romance with child psychologist Oscar.
- New York City functions as more than a setting: Firstman shot on 35mm on location, using clubs, apartments and streets to make the city a central character in the story.
- Arlo’s living situation becomes “more dire and probably illegal,” driving the film’s sharp turn into Peter’s courtroom one-er, with the drama compared to “Kramer vs. Kramer.”
- Club Kid premiered at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, and the review was originally published on May 15, 2026, during the festival.
- A24 will release “Club Kid” in theaters on Friday, November 6, according to the editor’s note, while the review body separately says the film is seeking U.S. distribution.
Why it matters: For Firstman, moving from an online provocateur’s persona to directing unexpected fatherhood to an eight-year-old, with a courtroom climax, establishes a broader filmmaking identity. For audiences, a 2026 Cannes premiere followed by A24’s stated November 6 theatrical release provides a concrete festival-to-theater path, while the body separately says U.S. distribution is being sought.
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