A Cannes lineup features two films directed by actors that rely on performers moving behind the camera while delivering distinct queer experiences. One film follows Peter, a gay party promoter in 2016 Brooklyn, amid drug use, strobe-lit sensuality, and shifting sexual encounters. Two straight British women proposition him, and later a voyeuristic dynamic leads to a reluctant threesome. Ten years later, Peter is exhausted, loses his place in the party business, and faces financial strain while living with a queer philosopher. His life changes again when a British woman arrives with his son, forcing new responsibilities and emotional reckoning.
"This Un Certain Regard film opens in 2016 Brooklyn with a hypnotic barrage of unbridled drug taking, queer sensuality and steamy strobe lights. At the center of this frenzied space is the gay party promoter, Peter-Firstman, portraying a spin on his online persona-who's doling out bumps of cocaine to all takers. While partying, two straight drunken British women proposition Peter for sex. He rejects them. Later, one of them finds him making out with another man and decides to create a threesome in a back room."
"Fast forward ten years and Peter is still partying hard, but he's clearly worn out. His business partner Sophie (Cara Delevingne), who's equally troubled, is tired of Peter's unprofessionalism and decides to cut him from their party company. Nearly broke, with a rent-controlled apartment that has Nicky (Eldar Isgandarov), a ne're-do-well queer philosopher from Azerbaijan, sleeping on his couch-Peter is further shocked when one of those British women arrives with his son Arlo (Reggie Absolom)."
"Actors-turned-directors are turning heads at Cannes and in this dispatch. Here are two films, one from Un Certain Regard and another the Cannes Premieres section, which not only rely on actors moving behind the camera. They're also queer movies, which offer two very different experiences, but nonetheless hold the commonality of people searching to affirm their identity while finding wisdom in the process."
"" Club Kid," Jordan Firstman's moving anthem for fatherhood, is a sweet, late-stage coming-of-age narrative that's among the surprises at Cannes. After several shorts and online skits and impressions lampooning stereotypes of the most annoying people wrought by quarantine, Firstman makes his feature directorial debut, which is now A24's major purchase of the festival for a stunning $15 million."
Read at Roger Ebert
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