Club Kid

A heartwarming charmer about a queer party animal who suddenly discovers he has a ten-year-old son.

There’s always something to celebrate when new talents enter the world of film, especially when a debut director hits the mark on the first try. With CLUB KID, Jordan Firstman has done what Charlotte Wells achieved with AFTERSUN: created a surprising and moving debut that will be talked about for years to come. Firstman stars as Peter, a gay club promoter whose best days are behind him. His partying habits from his twenties linger even as he approaches forty, and his appetite for party drugs has long since reached self-destructive proportions. When the ten-year-old son he never knew he had suddenly turns up at his door, Peter has to learn what it means to live for someone other than himself.

CLUB KID is a life-affirming charmer that shows how care and consideration can heal all wounds. Above all, the film is a fresh buddy comedy that strikes a chord with millennials. More difficult socioeconomic circumstances than those faced by previous generations can make it hard for this age group to enter adulthood, and many end up stuck in a kind of Peter Pan existence (the protagonist’s name was no accident). Director Firstman’s aim, however, is not so much to judge the protagonist and those sharing his fate as to portray how caring for others can involve learning to care for oneself.

Review borrowed from Bergen internasjonale filmfestival (https://www.biff.no/f/club-kid/5931)