In 1987, the confirmed bachelors Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson found a baby on the doorstep of their New York penthouse apartment – and with “Three more men, another baby” they landed the fifth most successful US box office hit of the year, even ahead of “Lethal Weapon” and “Predator”. 24 years later, Til Schweiger even made it onto the podium of the German annual charts with a very similar plot and more than 4.3 million tickets sold for “Kokowääh”. And of course, these are by no means the only examples of films in which a person who at first glance appears to be the most unsuitable person suddenly has to look after a child who, in many cases, was not even known to exist. In his debut as a director and author, the stand-up comedian Jordan Firstman also uses this extensively tested story construct, which has so far always provided reliable, box-office service, especially in the tabloid comedy genre.
Nevertheless, “Club Kid” is anything but a manipulative tear-jerker glossy comedy. Instead, Firstman, who became a social media star during the Corona lockdowns, displays astonishing ambitions in every respect: Not only was the film shot on analogue 35mm material, but some of it also used original locations from the queer New York underground scene. The result is an incredibly raw, feel-good film – a supposed contradiction that “Club Kid” resolves so harmoniously that after the world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival there was first an enthusiastic standing ovation and then a bidding war involving a number of Hollywood studios and streaming services. From the point of view of cinema lovers, the label “feel-good film of the year” can certainly be understood as an insult – but with “Club Kid” everyone, no matter what expectations they start the evening with, will join in the resounding applause.
Peter (Jordan Firstman) is a legend in New York’s sex-and-drugs party scene. But that doesn’t make him a perfect father, does it?
In the bitter social media satire “Rotting In The Sun”, Jordan Firstman, who took off on Instagram and TikTok during the Covid pandemic with videos full of biting, precise observations of everyday life, played an exaggerated version of himself – unsimulated oral sex including group sex. In “Club Kid” there is no longer any real sex in front of the camera, but the authenticity of the scene’s life has remained: Together with his business partner Sophie (Cara Delevingne), Peter (Jordan Firstman) organizes the best parties in the Big Apple, which are also so popular with a diverse audience because there is not only a sex-positive, anything-goes attitude between the electro beats, but Peter himself reliably snorts coke or ketamine with every line – as a good host should.
But then the implied “Kokowääh” crack follows – and in this case with a dark note: Ten years ago the homosexual Peter had sex with a woman once, as always completely stoned during a spontaneous threesome at one of his parties – and now the British woman Edison (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) suddenly appears at the door with a little boy: Arlo (Reggie Absolom) is his son – and because his mother decided that a few days ago took a life and the stepfather is a violent asshole, Peter should now kindly take care of the child. From one day to the next, the constantly drunk party king has to turn his entire hedonistic lifestyle upside down – and even if he succeeds, that doesn’t mean that he can just keep his son, who is still registered in Great Britain…
It doesn’t take long before Peter is ready to change everything in his life for his son Arlo (Reggie Absolom).
Ketamine and suicide are just two of many plot details that cautiously suggest that “Club Kid” is probably less “harmless” than “Kokowääh” & Co. But even this statement can easily lead you on the wrong track: despite taking into account MDMA crashouts at underground sex parties, “Club Kid” never becomes a gray problem film, but always remains a 100% optimistic feel-good guarantee. Even without any previous experience as a father, Peter does a surprising amount of things right straight away and he at least puts the damn effort into the rest. The on-screen chemistry between Jordan Firstman and the now 14-year-old newcomer Reggie Absolom is simply terrific – also because both characters have equally developed tastes in music.
The setbacks, which are of course inevitable, also do not follow the usual Hollywood pattern – right up to a happy ending (?), which would certainly have been much clearer not only with Til Schweiger, but which also fully deserves the audience’s equally happy and sad tears. And there’s also a lot to laugh about: Eldar Isgandarov, as the Xbox-addicted slacker philosopher Nicky, delivers probably the most iconic roommate character since Rhys Ifans as Hugh Grant’s roommate Spike in “Notting Hill” – another terrific performance, as if “Club Kid” didn’t already have enough of that.
Conclusion: Usually the biggest crowd pleaser of the year is aimed at the lowest common denominator – and is therefore often not a particularly good film. But things will be different in 2025: “Club Kid” is incredibly ambitious – and still delivers an all-round feel-good experience that hardly anyone can resist.
We saw “Club Kid” at the Hamburg Film Festival 2026, where the film celebrated its German premiere.