Jordan Firstman's Club Kid finds its audience

Tears during editing signalled success

Jordan Firstman recalls crying while editing Club Kid, as did his editor and everyone allowed in the edit room. He knew the emotional response meant audiences would be moved.

“I remember getting to the end of the edit, and I would cry every time watching it.”

Cannes premiere led to A24 deal

Club Kid premiered at Cannes Film Festival in May, receiving a standing ovation. After a bidding war, A24 acquired the film for a reported seventeen million dollars.

Strong box office and critical ratings

Club Kid opened in U.S. theaters November sixth and averaged more than sixty five thousand dollars per screen. It holds a ninety eight percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes with more than one hundred reviews.

Outperformed other 2026 indie releases

Club Kid's per screen average exceeded stalwart two thousand twenty six indies like The Invite, Tony, and Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. A nationwide expansion is to follow.

Unexpected appeal across demographics

Firstman did not make the film with seventy five year old white men in mind, yet at Telluride Film Festival in September, he saw that demographic reacting strongly.Older people are leaving the theater in tears.

“Older people really like this movie and are leaving the theater in tears.”

The story of Peter and Arlo

Firstman plays Peter, a New York City nightlife veteran who discovers he is the father of a ten year old boy named Arlo after the boy's mother dies.

Casting Reggie Absolom as Arlo

Firstman scanned approximately one hundred tapes of potential Arlos before seeing Reggie Absolom. He was struck by Absolom's naturalism and the fact that he had the exact face Firstman was writing in his head.

“That is the face that I was writing in my head, like, he literally had the same face.”

Absolom's taste test and audition

Firstman sent prospective Arlos a playlist and asked them to pick their favourite songs to gauge their taste.When Absolom auditioned, Firstman felt an immediate connection.

“After he auditioned, I turned to say goodbye, and he gave me a look, and I just felt like I knew him.”

Absolom's initial hesitation about the role

Absolom, who would be thirteen at the time of filming in late two thousand twenty five, was initially skeptical about the script.

“I was a bit skeptical, if I'm gonna be honest, at first. Like, 'I'm gonna be around all this?'”

Firstman's protective approach on set

Firstman said he was hyper aware of the film's potential to expose Absolom to inappropriate topics and fine tuned which lines would be said in front of the child actor.

“I felt really well protected on set.”

Absolom learned DJing on set

The scene in which Peter's DJ friend Saffron teaches Arlo how to use mixing equipment was improvised.Firstman directed Saturn Risin9 to abandon the script and deliver a crash course in DJing.

Absolom's takeaways from the experience

Absolom says he is interested in clubbing when of age but probably not as much as the people in the movie.

“I'm not gonna do them ever. I don't see a point.”

Avoiding pitfalls of child actors

Absolom is focused on not internalizing online negativity. He says most challenges for child actors come from seeing negative comments and feeling bad about themselves, but he can block those out.

“Most of the things that will happen to a child actor are seeing negative comments and feeling really bad about yourself because of it.”

Firstman rejects conservative reading

Online discourse suggests Club Kid is conservative because Peter moves away from nightlife after becoming a parent. Firstman rejects this, saying the film is not prescriptive and other characters continue partying in healthy ways.

“I will not entertain the conservative allegations. It's just not.”

The film as self compassion

Firstman says Club Kid is personal because he poured himself into it.A scene where Peter describes his low self esteem might as well have been ripped from Firstman's diary.

“This movie was an act of compassion for myself.”