Actor and writer Jordan Firstman is making his feature directorial debut with Club Kid, an A24 comedy-drama that follows an aging New York City party promoter forced into sudden parenthood. After breaking out at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2026 and beginning its domestic theatrical rollout in early November, the film is drawing passionate, divided responses from major critics over how it merges gritty queer nightlife with a classic family movie trope.

Known to television audiences for his role in I Love LA, Firstman writes, directs, and stars in the two-hour feature as Peter Green. While outlets like The New Yorker and NPR have praised the movie's assured energy and emotional grounding, other reviewers question whether its familiar premise and strobe-lit visual style hold together over the full runtime.

From Brooklyn Raves to Sudden Fatherhood

The narrative of Club Kid begins in the New York club scene of 2016. Peter Green and his flinty-eyed business partner, Sophie (played by Cara Delevingne), operate a party-organizing company within the city's queer nightlife circuit.

Tasked with booking DJs, managing guest lists, and keeping the energy high at venues like Club Labor, Peter mixes business with pleasure in unsustainable measures. During one drug-fueled night, Peter—a gay man—is pulled into a random, intoxicated three-way sexual encounter on the dance floor with a British cisgender woman named Leonora (Paris Petitjean) and another man, alongside a hard-partying Londoner named Edison (Kirby Howell-Baptiste).

The story then jumps forward roughly a decade. Now in his thirties, Peter's career has faltered; after being fired by Sophie, he supplements his income by selling drugs to acquaintances while continuing his self-destructive, late-night habits. His routine is abruptly disrupted when he returns to his Brooklyn apartment to find Arlo (Reggie Absolom), a 10-year-old British boy, waiting for him. Left in Peter's care by Edison, Arlo is revealed to be the biological son Peter never knew he had.

Following the death of Arlo's mother from a drug-related suicide and previous abuse by her ex-boyfriend, the young boy arrives from England with little more than a British passport and a birth certificate, forcing Peter to confront adult responsibilities he has spent a decade avoiding.

Critical Reception: A Divide Over Grit and Sentiment

As Club Kid moves into theaters, film critics have offered contrasting assessments of how effectively Firstman balances underground club sociology with heartstring-tugging family drama. According to The New Yorker, the film is an "exuberantly entertaining comedy" that exhibits "startling confidence," comparing its matter-of-fact depiction of after-hours enclaves to the 2024 film Anora, with which it shares producer Alex Coco.

Similarly, NPR notes that while the setup resembles a standard man-child growing-up story on paper, Firstman balances his arch, twisted humor with real-world stakes.

The outlet emphasizes that Arlo is not merely used as a narrative crutch, pointing to tender scenes—such as Peter and Arlo playing piano together while singing Ethel Cain's "Thoroughfare"—as moments that work despite teetering on the edge of sentimentality. Regional outlets have echoed this warmth: KQED characterizes the release as a crowd-pleasing gay coming-of-age story that balances sordidness with sentiment, while the Hartford Courant highlights its authentic depiction of gay life within a recognizable unexpected-parenthood framework.

In contrast, The Boston Globe delivered a sharply critical review, comparing the surprise-child premise to an episode of the daytime talk show Maury. The publication argues that the screenplay strains credibility by ignoring practical questions—such as why Peter never seeks a DNA test or how he legally assumes custody of an underage foreign national without financial stability—while sweeping serious issues like suicide and child abuse under the rug until a sudden emotional turn in the third act.

The review also criticizes the cinematography as poorly lit, oddly framed, and "visually headache-inducing" due to heavy strobe effects.

Cannes Acquisition and Theatrical Rollout

Before facing domestic reviewers, Club Kid generated substantial industry momentum on the international festival circuit. According to Reuters, the project emerged as a breakout title at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2026, sparking a distributor bidding contest won by indie studio A24. While not independently confirmed by other outlets, the Hartford Courant reports that A24 acquired the film for $17 million following that bidding war.

Following a Los Angeles premiere at the Vista Theatre on November 4, the film began a staggered domestic release, and Firstman has promoted the project on national broadcasts including TODAY.com. Reporting on the exact theatrical schedule varies by market: while Reuters reported a U.S.

cinema opening on November 6, 2026, regional coverage from KQED notes that the film opens in Bay Area theaters on November 13, and The Fresno Bee describes a limited November 6 launch ahead of a broader nationwide expansion.

Key Questions About 'Club Kid'

How does the film’s queer New York nightlife setting distinguish its familiar unexpected-fatherhood story?

Rather than placing the sudden-parenthood trope in a traditional domestic comedy setting, Firstman anchors the narrative in the specific dynamics of New York's underground queer rave scene. Reviewers note that the opening act functions like an insider sociology lesson, complete with rotating 360-degree cab shots set to Rihanna tracks, up-to-the-minute drug slang, and a close-knit community of gay and trans partygoers. This environment creates a sharp contrast when a 10-year-old child enters Peter's life.

How does Firstman’s performance as Peter compare with the film’s supporting cast?

Firstman plays Peter with a mix of detached club-world cool and self-destructive vulnerability, showing a softer side than in his previous comedic work.

Even critics who disliked the film's script praised the supporting ensemble: young actor Reggie Absolom has been widely commended for bringing soulful warmth to Arlo, Cara Delevingne is described as convincing as Peter's no-nonsense partner Sophie, and Saturn Risin9 makes a memorable impression as trans DJ Saffron. In addition, Variety highlighted Kirby Howell-Baptiste's turn as the disruptive party girl Edison, alongside a supporting roster noticed by Time Out that includes Diego Calva and Colleen Camp.

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