I was first introduced to Jordan Firstman through his character Charlie in the HBO TV show “I Love LA.” Charlie is a stylist living in LA whose life is filled with adventures, often instigated by his friend group of ambitious Hollywood personalities. While Charlie’s plotlines remain mostly secondary to the adventures of the two main characters, Maia (Rachel Sennott) and Tallulah (Odessa A’Zion), Firstman does an excellent job of portraying a gay man trying to make it in Hollywood. We often see Charlie battle his physical insecurities, his commitment issues, and struggle to fit in with his clients’ hyper-masculine circle of friends. Firstman has foregrounded the struggles of characters like Charlie in his directorial debut “Club Kid.”
“Club Kid” utilizes the somewhat formulaic “guy who refuses to grow up until a kid drops in his lap” trope following an absurd event: a gay guy getting a woman pregnant in the darkroom of an NYC club. The movie focuses on the relationship between Peter (Jordan Firstman), the dad and party promoter, and Arlo (Reggie Absolom), his son and the titular club kid. Throughout the movie, it becomes apparent that Peter wasn’t as unprepared for Arlo as he thought. “Club Kid” speaks to everyone who has relied on their friends the way others rely on their family. However absurd its premise may be, “Club Kid” succeeds in hooking its audience with the flashy world of partying and drugs but then reveals itself to be a heartfelt drama about parenthood and community.
The story opens up with a 360-degree shot of a cramped cab as Peter and his friend group (which consists of trans DJs, drag queens, and his business partner) get ready to party. Everyone is adequately intoxicated by a combination of various drugs: ketamine, cocaine, alcohol, MDMA, and more. Their carefree euphoria grows tenfold when the group walks to the exclusive Club Labor. It is in this sequence that cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra displays his expertise. The shots are meticulously crafted to capture the dizzying yet exhilarating feeling of walking into a club for the first time. The camera swerves around a room lit by strobing lasers, emulating the feeling of navigating a packed dance floor. It is in that club that Arlo is conceived.
Following that night, the movie jumps ten years in time. Peter is still partying and working as a promoter, but you can tell that time has taken its toll. He fails to fall asleep after a night out; he has jitters, overthinks, listens to his own heartbeat, and tries to make sure that he is not dying. Furthermore, his continued partying has put a strain on — and eventually terminates — his business relationship with Sophie (Cara Delevingne), as Peter continues to deal drugs and shows up hungover at their business meetings. In this way, “Club Kid” contrasts the euphoric highs of party drugs with the inescapable health effects. At its core, “Club Kid” asks how sustainable a party lifestyle is. Its most glamorous sequences are contrasted with the relationship-altering withdrawal symptoms. As Peter ages, his lifestyle takes a larger toll on him: he simply can’t recover as quickly or sustain his partying for as long.
Firstman physically embodies the detrimental effects of drug consumption through his portrayal of this functional addict. Peter does not reflect the expected image of an addict — he’s only a recreational user, after all. The film steadily dismantles the idea that party drugs are innocent as we watch Peter’s life crumble apart. Peter’s attitude is meant to incite self-reflection in the audience: am I partying safely, or am I relying on substances that harm my health?
Amidst this chaos, Edison (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), a friend of Arlo’s mom, tracks Peter down to hand Arlo to him after her death. At first, Peter refuses to accept that he has a nine-year-old son. He tries to seek out Edison — who began partying in NYC the moment she left Peter’s — to return Arlo to her. Their search for Edison takes Peter and Arlo on a mission through New York’s party scene, featuring destinations such as the Market Hotel and Basement. The journey comes to an end with the slow realization that Arlo is here to stay, whether Peter is ready for it or not. It is undeniable that Arlo comes with his own baggage. He has grown up in an abusive household and now has to grapple with his mother’s suicide. Peter has to take up the responsibility of raising the wonderful yet hurt child that has come into his life.
In introducing Arlo to Peter’s life, Firstman questions mainstream assumptions about found family, especially in queer communities. Many are familiar with the saying “blood is thicker than water,” often quoted to imply that familial relations prevail over friendships. Peter’s social circle turns this assumption on its head as we realize he, and the people he surrounds himself with, are more ready to take care of Arlo than previously thought. Firstman highlights a brilliant community of queer partiers as they welcome Arlo into their life. He disputes assumptions that a more “traditional” family structure is better. This is especially prevalent with Arlo’s past living with his mom’s abusive partner. He shows that a perhaps more unusual found family can be just as, or even more loving, than a more standardized nuclear family model.
Peter’s attempt at parenthood doesn’t always go as smoothly as he imagines. He attempts to quit drugs, but this proves difficult as he has to keep dealing to pay for Arlo’s expenses out of pocket. We are once again sucked into the world of partying as Peter hustles for money at clubs, selling drugs that are common on the queer party scene. While he tries to stay clean, he succumbs to peer pressure. Firstman conveys the journey of a man who has the desire and potential to stop using, but fails to do so. It is apparent that after a point, drugs become inseparable from one’s social circle and work, especially for people in the business of nightlife like Peter. It becomes apparent that to stop his addiction, Peter will have to give up dealing and maybe even partying.
It is after Peter’s relapse that we are introduced to the moral conflict of the film: should Peter be Arlo’s legal guardian? This question motivates Peter throughout the movie. While he initially tried to reject his duties as Arlo’s guardian, he has come to welcome them. Every part of his community of friends and his self-improvement journey shows that he is capable of becoming a responsible parent. Yet, he still is not perfect. He doesn’t know how to enroll Arlo in school, or how to balance his party life with parent life. Despite all of his faults, the film keeps the audience’s sympathy largely with Peter, as he puts Arlo into therapy and starts building a life with him that shows real potential.
Peter’s growth is contrasted by his old, bad habits trailing behind him. Even when Peter moves away from dealing drugs to start his own party promotion business, he remains in proximity to illicit substances. This issue is exacerbated when Peter lets Arlo DJ for his party on multiple occasions, calling into question his abilities as a parent. Furthermore, seeds of an ethically dubious relationship are planted between Peter and Arlo’s therapist, Oscar (Diego Calva). The evidence is undeniable: Peter has many shortcomings and mess-ups as a parent, but isn’t that the case for every parent? The final conflict emerges as the film questions Peter’s qualification to be a parent. On one of those nights when Arlo DJs for Peter’s party, the crowd gets a little too rambunctious. Peter, in an attempt to protect Arlo, takes him off stage and tries to get him out of the club. He ends up losing Arlo for a moment on the dance floor. That moment is enough for a parent’s imagination to think of a million possible ways Arlo could have gotten hurt.
The final act of the movie goes through a dramatic tone shift following this incident when Sophie — Peter’s old business partner — reports Peter to the authorities for mistreatment of Arlo. Following this, Arlo is promptly taken away from Peter and sent back to the UK. This last segment includes Peter trying to prove that he is the right home for Arlo as he tries to stop his past from catching up to him. Ultimately, the British court rules to house Arlo with one of his mom’s work friends. While it seems that they made the right choice, the loss of Arlo in Peter’s life brings bittersweet sadness.
The final moments of the movie nail the feeling of mourning. Peter has stopped his party business, is working as a waiter at a bar, is in school getting his degree, and has a loving boyfriend. His lifestyle changes are largely because of a desire to be a better dad for Arlo, though he does all of this in his absence. Firstman uses Arlo as a catalyst for change in Peter’s unsustainable, downward-spiraling life. While Arlo and Peter technically have a father-son relationship, it becomes apparent that they both learn so much from each other. Their relationship speaks to the importance of found family in queer spaces while criticizing the potentially harmful environments perpetuated in the party community. The movie ends with Arlo calling Peter, marking the first time since the trial that Peter has heard from him. This brief but sentimental exchange ends with Peter gifting his DJ set to Arlo: a symbol of his cutting ties with the party world and bestowing his legacy upon his child.
Firstman’s “Club Kid” is a wonderful directorial debut that touches on issues that many queer men face: addiction and insecurity, and how it reflects on one’s life. Arlo’s introduction serves as a wake-up call for the protagonist that his lifestyle is not sustainable. This abrupt change leads to the heartwarming story of Arlo and Peter as their relationship develops in a complex way. They have to navigate loss, responsibility, and insecurity to build their life together. In the end, the catalyst for this grand change — Arlo — doesn’t get to enjoy life with Peter, but the audience is left with the knowledge that Peter chooses to be better for Arlo every day.
