Pavements Trailer: Alex Ross Perry’s Bold Hybrid Film Honors a Legendary Indie Band

      After a six-year hiatus since directing his last solo feature, Her Smell, Alex Ross Perry has returned to the rock genre with Pavements. This film serves as a tribute to Stephen Malkmus’ band, blending elements of band documentary, biopic (and the biopic’s creation), Broadway musical, museum exhibition, and more, all in an effort to encapsulate the brilliance of this iconic group. Following its premiere at a fall festival, Utopia plans to release the film on May 2 of this year, and they have now unveiled the first trailer after providing an amusing teaser featuring the film within the film. In addition to the members of Pavement, the cast includes Joe Keery as frontman Stephen Malkmus, along with Jason Schwartzman, Fred Hechinger, Tim Heidecker, Logan Miller, Griffin Newman, Nat Wolff, and others.

      The synopsis states: “Pavements is a film about the band Pavement—among other themes. This latest offering from acclaimed director Alex Ross Perry (Her Smell) is a documentary that may or may not be entirely accurate, may or may not be completely sincere, and may or may not focus more on the idea of the band—or any band—rather than the legacy of the brief yet passionately adored, commercially marginal American alternative group Pavement from the 90s. This unconventional film about a highly distinctive band combines elements of a stage musical, rock biopic, gallery exhibition, archival footage, and contemporary observational footage, resulting in a film that is as complex, hard to categorize, and entertaining as the band and their music. Centered around Pavement’s slacker-sage-sphinx Stephen Malkmus, the film features performances by Joe Keery, Jason Schwartzman, Tim Heidecker, Kathryn Gallagher, Michael Esper, Zoe Lister-Jones, and editing by nonfiction innovator Robert Greene (Procession).”

      In his review, David Katz remarked, “Perry’s film, one of his most accomplished and cohesive works to date, exists in both a past and conditional tense. It provides an insightful overview of one of indie music’s most impactful artists: in its most conventional sections, it serves as a visual and critical biography that highlights the essential aspects of their suburban and middle-American upbringings, their immersion into 'alt' culture and the art life as students, and their sometimes affectionate, often tentative relationship with the lucrative music industry of the 90s. However, after establishing this reality baseline, Perry and his mock-doc creator, editor Robert Greene (who appears to be a significant creative partner here), craft highly inventive fictional segments that may not be entirely plausible but possess a persuasive, satirical quality that strays slightly from reality.”

      Check out the trailer below.