2026 has been a solid year for movies, with smaller-budget movies like Obsession managing to make it big at the box office. There were also a number of daring new A24 movies, and that studio is offering another daring entry with Jordan Firstman's Club Kid. I was able to catch an early screening of the dramedy, which had me laughing and crying in equal measures throughout its brisk 121-minute runtime. Club Kid is my favorite movie of the entire year (so far), and I'm truly obsessed with its portrayal of gay nightlife.
Over the past few years, there's been a ton of conversation about the importance of LGBTQ+ representation in the media. While we got a steamy book-to-screen adaptation with Heated Rivalry, Club Kid offers an incredibly authentic look at nightlife in the community, warts and all. As a gay man in my mid-30s, I thought it was impressive how the depictions were, allowing me to relate intimately with this acclaimed new film.
Club Kid Tells Something Moving And Real About Gay Nightlife
Jordan Firstman is the writer, director and star of Club Kid, and deserves all the flowers he's received at festivals like Cannes and TIFF. While audiences might know him from his scene-stealing roles in English Teacher (streaming with a Hulu subscription) and Ms. Marvel, he takes center stage as protagonist Peter. He's a party promoter and habitual drug user who has been raging in the New York City nightlife scene for a decade, and is feeling the effects that his nocturnal proclivities take on him.
When Peter is fired from his job and arguably at his lowest, he's surprised to learn he has a son named Arlo (Reggie Absolom), the result of having sex with a woman in a darkroom years ago. What follows is a grittier take on Big Daddy, and we watch Peter and his son bond when he's suddenly dropped off at his door following the death of Arlo's mother.
Throughout the movie, we're shown an unapologetic and unfiltered look at the gay nightlife scene, including the drug use that can often accompany it. The movie's opening sequence shows Peter at the height of his career as a promoter. I was immediately struck by how real the club scene was, showing the various mini-conversations that happen in a crowded bar. Peter and his friends also engage in a mixture of drugs, especially GHB, ketamine and cocaine. It's when he's crossfaded that he eventually has sex with a woman, in a scene set in the venue's darkroom, where folks go to engage in anonymous sex.
Darkrooms have a long history in the LGBTQ+ community, and have been portrayed onscreen in projects like Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song Trilogy. While some audiences might balk at the scene in Club Kid, I have to applaud Firstman for showing them in such a real way, potentially educating straight moviegoers in the process.
Peter's relationship with drugs is also a major part of this movie, and I once again was shocked by how close to home it felt. I've seen firsthand how alluring and insidious drug use can be in nightlife, and have lost friends to it. Firstman's protagonist is given reason to change his lifestyle when he suddenly becomes a parent, but there are so many queer folks who are never able to separate themselves from the scene. While I've never had the experience of meeting a child I didn't know I had, I couldn't help but relate to the story told throughout the film.
Club Kid gets its wide theatrical release November 6th as part of the 2026 movie release list. We'll have to see if another movie manages to beat it as my favorite movie of the year... but I doubt it. Now let Jordan Firstman direct whatever else he wants.
