VIDEOHEAVEN

USA | DCP | 2025 | 173 min.
Director: Alex Ross Perry

Once so ubiquitous as to be taken for granted, now all but vanished, the video rental shop was a cultural fixture from the 1980s to the early 2000s. Whether the shelves contained a thoughtfully curated bounty or the frustration of a corporate shell stocking dozens of the same lousy title, browsing these aisles was a rite of passage for many cinephiles. Using narration read by Maya Hawke and a wealth of footage pulled from cinema, TV, instructional videos, and commercials, rental clerk turned filmmaker Alex Ross Perry (Pavements) charts the history and impact of home video before the streaming era. After basking in Videoheaven, you will surely be inspired to hit up Madison’s own Four Star Video (formerly known as Four Star Video Heaven), one of the few left standing. Presented with the support of Four Star Video. (MK)