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Pavements
SummaryPavements is a movie about Pavement the band—among other things. The latest film from acclaimed director Alex Ross Perry is a documentary that may or may not be entirely true, may or may not be totally sincere, and may or may not be more about the idea of the band—or any band—than a history of the short-lived, passionately loved, commercially mar... Read More

Directed By:Alex Ross Perry

Written By:Alex Ross Perry

Pavements

Metascore
Generally Favorable
76
User score
Mixed or Average
5.4
My Score
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Metascore
Generally Favorable
76
90% Positive
19 Reviews
10% Mixed
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
Jul 10, 2025
100
Little White Lies
The constant blurring of the lines makes for a fascinating, often hilarious, watch.
Sep 4, 2024
90
Screen Daily
At once a documentary about the band and its recent live reunion, and a fictional embroidery around its status (and missed opportunities), Pavements is a joyous, slyly subversive celebration that, while unlikely to persuade newcomers to the music, nevertheless catches the band’s wayward spirit, as well as the downright ordinariness that came as an alternative to the bloated rock band ethos.
Jul 9, 2025
80
The Irish Times
Perry and his editor, Robert Greene (using split screens and collage techniques), build a dizzying kaleidoscope of timelines, earnestness and glee. What emerges is a film that’s as formally adventurous and oddly affecting as the soundtrack.
Nov 26, 2024
80
Collider
Perry’s work in Pavements is one of the wildest and unhinged approaches to a music documentary ever made, but the fact that he pulls it all together into something that isn’t a mess is a testament to Perry’s craft.
Sep 4, 2024
80
Variety
It’s impossible not to be won over by the director’s efforts, which come to include at least four separate modes of production.
Jun 5, 2025
67
Austin Chronicle
Just because Pavements is a prankish film about a prankish band doesn't make it any less deeply heartfelt. It’s one for the fans – and we are legion.
Jul 9, 2025
40
The Guardian
Intriguingly, but finally a bit frustratingly, Perry is running four ideas at once, a kind of cine-quadriptych with the plurality signalled by the title.
See All 21 Critic Reviews
User score
Mixed or Average
5.4
45% Positive
5 Ratings
18% Mixed
2 Ratings
36% Negative
4 Ratings
  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
Jun 10, 2025
10
magicDT
Great fun. One of the best rock biopics out there. Incredible story of a band that never really made it in their time but whose music comes to be seen as important and inspiring years later.
May 16, 2025
10
decatur555
There are movies you enjoy and then there are movies that completely overwhelm you. Pavements did just that to me. I’ve been crying from the first second to the last, carried away by emotion, memory, and music. This is not just a documentary; it’s a strange and beautiful hallucination about my all-time favorite band, Pavement, and about Stephen Joseph Malkmus, who’s long been something between a musical idol and an emotional reference point for **** film is not made to convince new fans. It doesn’t explain much, nor does it follow a clear linear narrative. It’s messy, meta, ironic, sometimes even absurd—but deeply heartfelt. Some will adore it, others will detest it or simply not understand a thing. But for those of us who have carried Pavement in our veins since the ‘90s, it feels like a gift. A rare, chaotic, and unpredictable gift, just like the band itself.I found it bold, innovative, and refreshingly different from typical rock docs. There’s a museum (both real and surreal), there's a jukebox musical, and there’s even a fake biopic that hilariously hits every cliché of the genre while still conveying the real drama behind the band’s history. And in between, the music—always the music—guiding every emotional beat, every twist of nostalgia. When Circa 1762 started playing, I broke down. It’s one of my favorite, most overlooked songs from their catalog, and hearing it in this context felt like a private **** I miss something, it’s that Carrot Rope doesn’t close the film. That song, that farewell disguised as a joke, would have been the perfect ending. But maybe that’s also part of the spirit of Pavement: never giving the expected, always choosing the offbeat road.Would I love for them to reunite for real, to tour again, to make a movie, to turn the museum into something permanent? Of course. But for now, this film is enough to make me cry like the first time I heard Gold Soundz. A kaleidoscopic, loving tribute to a band that changed my life—and continues to do so.
See All 11 User Reviews
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  • Alldayeveryday Productions
  • Field Recordings
  • Matador Records
  • Pulse Films
May 2, 2025
2 h 8 m

Awards

Virginia Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Milwaukee Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Venice Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
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