Better brush up on your dance moves, because Club Kid is ready to pump up the volume on the fall festival circuit. Jordan Firstman‘s directorial debut was the movie everyone was singing about at Cannes, encouraging A24 to open its hearts and their wallets. The distributor is now bringing Club Kid to three out of the four fall festivals — Telluride, Toronto, and New York — hoping to keep the good vibes going ahead of its November release.
The first trailer for the film debuted online today, revealing that the movie is Firstman’s club music-soaked version of Big Daddy and C’mon C’mon — two movies about overgrown adolescents bonding with an actual adolescent in their lives. When New York club promoter Peter (Firstman) discovers he has a son, Arlo (Reggie Absolom), he tries to integrate the child into his life without sacrificing his lifestyle. Needless to say, that transition from promoter to parent isn’t smooth.
Watch the first trailer above and read on for everything else to know about Club Kid.
The plot
Here’s the official synopsis from A24: “A hard-partying New York City club promoter sees his whirlwind lifestyle upended by the arrival of the 10-year-old son he never knew he had.”
The cast and creative team
Joining Firstman — who enjoyed a scene stealing turn in Rachel Sennot’s HBO comedy, I Love L.A. — and Absolom onscreen are Diego Calva, Cara Delevingne, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Colleen Camp, Vicki Pepperdine, Nigil Whyte, Eldar Isgandarov, Saturn Risin9, Miss Benny, and Alaska Riley.
Behind the camera, the writer-director was joined by producers Ryan Heller, Michael Bloom, Alex Coco, and Galen Core. Adam Newport-Berra served as cinematographer, and composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer provided the beats.
The awards prospects
Club Kid played out of competition at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section, and didn’t share in any of the awards love. But it did win the honor of being the festival’s buzziest American title, and it seems primed to play well with younger audiences — and awards voters — in particular. While it’s unlikely that Firstman can break into a crowded Best Actor or Best Director field, the film could easily flex its muscles in the Original Score category. And with 10 slots to fill in Best Picture, this kind of intimate and emotional father-son story could find a berth alongside super-sized epics like The Odyssey, Dune: Part Three, and Digger.
The release date
A24 will release Club Kid in November.
