From the internet to Cannes: the rise of Jordan Firstman.
Cannes always has a surprise film. The one that arrives with little fanfare, screens in front of a room full of critics who are nearly impossible to impress, and suddenly becomes the title everyone is talking about. This year, that film is Club Kid, the directorial debut of Jordan Firstman — one of the internet’s current favourite personalities and star of HBO’s hit series I Love L.A. — a queer comedy-drama that has just received a six-minute standing ovation following its premiere in the Un Certain Regard section.
Jordan Firstman turns the internet into cinema
Jordan Firstman has spent years building an online persona that is impossible to ignore. Between viral videos, awkward humour, and appearances in series such as Hacks and I Love L.A., he has become a figure capable of constantly generating conversation both on and off social media. With Club Kid, he seems to have found the perfect way to bring that chaotic and unpredictable universe to the big screen without losing its authenticity. Firstman wrote, directed, and starred in the film, and the reaction in Cannes made it clear that the experiment paid off.
After the screening, the director was left in tears in front of the audience as he celebrated alongside the cast at one of the festival’s most talked-about premieres. It is no coincidence that the first reviews have described the film as “shameless”, “chaotic”, and “surprisingly sincere” — three concepts that fit both the film and the public persona Firstman has spent years cultivating.
What is Club Kid about?
In the middle of an edition marked by intense dramas and auteur cinema clearly designed for awards season, Club Kid arrived in Cannes with a completely different energy — more chaotic, emotional, and unconcerned with fitting into any mould. The film follows Peter, a party promoter trapped in a cycle of excess, superficial relationships, and constant emotional avoidance, whose life changes completely when Arlo, a 10-year-old boy claiming to be his son from a sexual encounter years earlier, suddenly appears.
However, rather than constructing a typical male redemption story, the film uses that premise to explore the fear of growing up, queer relationships, and the feeling of arriving too late to adulthood. According to the first reactions from the specialist press, this is precisely where Club Kid finds its greatest strength: beneath the awkward humour, emotional chaos, and endless nights lies a far more sensitive and honest story than it initially appears to be.
Cara Delevingne and New York’s underground aesthetic
Part of Club Kid’s charm lies in the world it builds around its characters. Cara Delevingne plays Sophie, a figure close to the protagonist within a universe defined by parties, messy emotional connections, and an underground aesthetic that runs throughout the film. Alongside her appear Reggie Absolom as Arlo, Eldar Isgandarov, and Colleen Camp, as well as several figures linked to New York’s nightlife culture.
That visual identity is also reflected in the way the film was shot. Club Kid embraces a far more handcrafted aesthetic thanks to its use of 35mm film and the cinematography of Adam Newport-Berra, a frequent collaborator on some of the most interesting independent projects of recent years.
When is the film released?
The buzz surrounding Club Kid was so immediate that A24 acquired the worldwide distribution rights after a bidding war between studios and streaming platforms. Within hours, the film went from being an indie-circuit curiosity to one of the most anticipated titles to emerge from Cannes.
Although it still does not have an official international release date, all signs point to Club Kid becoming one of those films destined to dominate TikTok, memes, and “instant cult cinema” lists over the coming months. If Cannes proved anything this year, it is that Jordan Firstman has found the perfect way to transform his awkward humour, viral universe, and personal chaos into a film that is absolutely impossible to ignore.
Who is Odessa A’zion, the icon of Marty Supreme?
Sigue toda la información de HIGHXTAR desde Facebook, Twitter o Instagram