Vague Visages’ Pavements review contains minor spoilers. Alex Ross Perry’s 2024 documentary features Stephen Malkmus, Scott Kanberg and Joe Keery. Check out the VV home page for more film criticism, movie reviews and film essays.

Director Alex Ross Perry is one of the most underrated indie filmmakers of the past 15 years. From 2011’s The Color Wheel to 2018’s Her Smell (and three features in between those releases), the former Kim’s Video employee always keeps the audience on edge with his slacker-like humor and pop culture knowledge while showcasing his understanding of film history and filmmaking techniques. And so Perry, who spent the past several years directing music videos, seems like the ideal director for Pavements, a kick-ass 2024 documentary about the celebrated indie band Pavement, and arguably the most creative rock doc of the century.

Perry fully (and successfully) commits to various comedic bits in Pavements while documenting Pavement’s 1999 break-up and eventual 2022 reunion. The film organically plays out like a traditional rock doc, with the director positioning his collective subjects on the same level as mainstream Rock Gods, evidenced by a series of faux-event fabrications. For example, Perry created a Pavement-inspired musical (rehearsal) called “Slanted! Enchanted!,” along with a 1995-themed fake biopic known as “Range Life.” He also teases a long-term museum event about the band’s history. Crucially, Perry comedically plays into Pavement’s cultural persona, rather than trying to pull a quick one on casual viewers, though both things can be true at once, of course. What’s most important, it seems, is the overall rock doc presentation, as the director blends very real band interviews and archival footage with extended sequences featuring the casts of both “Slanted! Enchanted!” and “Range Life,” even enlisting notable actors for the biopic bit, such as Joe Keery (Stephen Malkmus), Nat Wolff (Scott Kannberg aka Spiral Stairs), Fred Hechinger (Bob Nastanovich), Logan Miller (Mark Ibold), Griffin Newman (Steve West) and Jason Schwartzman (Chris Lombardi, co-founder of Matador Records). Unsurprisingly, the narrative lines blur heavily in Pavements via Perry’s split-screen approach and recurring retro/mockumentary aesthetic.

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Pavement the band didn’t follow cultural trends during their formative years, and Perry ignores rock doc norms with Pavements. If there’s a single criticism to be made, it’s that casual rock fans might not identify various mockumentary/performance art themes. Plus, many viewers could easily overlook genuine moments of truthful insight from Pavement members, whether it’s about the late drummer Gary Young or lead singer Stephen Malkmus’ industry insecurities during the early 90s and beyond, specifically in terms of the band’s legacy and standing alongside other celebrated alt-rock bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam and The Smashing Pumpkins. Overall, Perry seems less interested in rock history analysis and more invested in the cinematic format itself and storytelling possibilities, as he’s able to at once celebrate Pavement’s legacy while trolling viewers with subtle commentaries about the musical biopic subgenre and uninformed assumptions about his main subjects.

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In September 2024, Vulture ‘s Nate Jones wrote that Perry’s “pranks, puckishness, and masturbatory self-indulgence feel incredibly true to the spirit of Pavement.” This statement seems on-point, in the best way possible, and the director’s longtime collaborators (also credited in Pavements) presumably agree, like actor Keith Poulson (as DJ Preston), filmmaker Robert Greene (the documentary’s actual editor) and New York City street photographer Jay Giampietro (as Peter Delfino). At one point, the aforementioned Keery (as Malkmus) notes that he’s “pushing a little further” than his favorite rock doc, Bohemian Rhapsody (2018). If you know, you know, as the saying goes (LOL). Or how about this: maybe Perry simply wants to further extend existing conversations about Pavement, cinema itself and the rock doc subgenre. As Malkmus says in Pavements’ archival footage, “We’re not trying to stay underground or trying to stay big. We’re just existing.” And cinema does indeed exist, always, as the art form continuously evolves while trends consistently change.

Pavements released theatrically on May 2, 2025 at Film Forum in New York City.

Q.V. Hough (@QVHough) is Vague Visages’ founding editor. Thank you for reading film criticism, movie reviews and film essays at Vague Visages.

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