Father time comes for everyone. We’re all destined for crow’s feet, achy joints, and loose strands of gray, no matter how hard we resist. But aging gracefully — accruing wisdom and maturity along the way is by no means a rite of passage. And for people like Peter (Jordan Firstman), becoming a grown-up seems more like an obstacle than a destination.
Peter leads a messy life, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. His world is a parade of drug binges, fair-weather friends, and sweaty dance parties, all capped off with random hookups. The chaos that seems almost quaint in your 20s is unsustainable in the long term. Even if Peter’s body keeps up, he’s in a holding pattern feeding off empty calories, keeping him full but undernourished.
Early on, the film flashes forward ten years, and it drops viewers into Peter’s worst-case scenario. He’s still the same guy, stuck in the same place, living the same hollow life. A haggard club promoter, trapped in the vortex of free drugs and shallow validation, until he receives a surprise visit from his past that changes everything.
In a drug-fuelled stupor back in the day, he knocked up a British woman during a three-way. Now, after she passes away, her best friend drops the child Arlo (Reggie Absolom) off in Peter’s living room. Suddenly, a man who’s ill-equipped to care for himself must take responsibility for an impressionable child. But before long, the obligation becomes a privilege, providing a ray of sunshine in his dreary life.
A great film grabs your attention from the opening frame and never lets you go. It announces what it is, and what you’re in for while still leaving space to surprise you. Club Kid sets things off like a cocaine-infused glitter bomb. It’s a loud, brash, and vibrant hit to your senses. But once you work your way through the sensory overload of thumping dance music and larger-than-life personalities, Firstman applies an unexpectedly gentle touch.
The film is packed with shocking humour and delightfully over-the-top performances that wouldn’t be out of place in an I Think You Should Leave sketch. But beneath all the crassness and sexual bravado remains a sweet and gentle film about sacrifice, growing up, and finding your calling.
Firstman has always been a charismatic performer, stealing scenes in shows like English Teacher and I Love LA. But here he’s fully unleashed, commanding the screen as both an effortless comedic performer and a tantalizing dramatic actor. He’s the film’s tonal lynchpin, stabilizing its swings between comedy and drama, amplifying the humour and heart without bogging down the laughs or cheapening the story’s dramatic impact.
In an age of constant contact and fewer and fewer meaningful connections, Club Kid speaks to today’s millennial angst. The film captures the doomscroll lifestyle: we’re never bored, yet rarely satisfied. The film conveys how people fill their days with ceaseless distraction, trapping themselves in a holding pattern within their safe and familiar little bubbles.
Through Peter, Firstman spotlights the potential buried deep down within a generation defined by their struggle to unearth it. Club Kid chronicles the maturation of someone forced to evolve only after being punted out of their comfort zone. The film astutely speaks to how discomfort forces growth and change, yet we live stuck in a society that offers us limitless pleasures, just one swipe away.
With Club Kid, Firstman proves himself a star who’s destined to shine in front of and behind the camera. He delivers a heartwarming tear-jerker bursting with wit and tender charm.
Club Kid tells an inspiring story about finding the courage to grow up. Like Peter, we can spend our adult years feeling inadequate and running away from responsibility. It’s not because we’re failures, but because we haven’t found something worth running towards. Sometimes all we need is a gentle nudge towards living our best life and discovering something worth growing up for.
Club Kid had its Canadian premiere at TIFF 2026 on September 13.
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