Club Kid review: Wondrous surprise-fatherhood movie is one of the years best

Running time: 122 minutes.Rated R (drug content throughout, strong sexual content, brief graphic nudity and language throughout).

In theaters Nov.6.You are not prepared for “Club Kid.” Because it’s directed, written by and starring Jordan Firstman, who many will know from his hysterical Instagram “Impressions” videos, I knew it would be funny.

But I was not prepared for how funny.Because of the plot — a messy gay New York party promoter in his thirties learns he has a 10-year-old son — I suspected it would be emotional.But I was not prepared for how emotional.Because it premiered at Cannes and is now packing theaters at the Toronto International Film Festival, I assumed it would be artful.

But I was not prepared for how artful.“Club Kid,” a film that stays lodged in your head far past the cinema doors, has shades of “Anora” in its optimism, grounded fantasy, five-borough mania and heartbreaking performances.Firstman’s freshman feature (crazy!) is easily one of the year’s best movies; a great big hug followed by an even bigger cry.After the trailer dropped, a few online reduced the film to “gay ‘Big Daddy’,” referencing the 1999 Adam Sandler comedy.

And on a rudimentary level, there’s some truth to that.A listless city dweller finds meaning with the help of an unexpected kid.

And Firstman, who’s 35, surely was impacted by other movies he saw during the nineties, which generally speaking were more openly affectionate than the predominantly cool and bleak fare of today.  Yet the similarities end there.As personal to its creator and filled with Brooklyn nightlife specifics as it is, “Club Kid” is also uniquely about a generation’s collective malaise and stunted growth.

And a lot of millennials will get mighty introspective when they watch it.Their lost and lovable stand-in is Peter (Firstman).It’s 2016 and he starts a hot weekly party with his friend Sophie (Cara Delevingne) called Club Labor.

One night, while on a...