Pulp: What Do You Do for an Encore?

Some 30 years on from the heady days of “Cool Britannia”, the summer of 2025 was marked by a surprising flourish of Britpop nostalgia. While undisputed giants Oasis were making headlines with their mammoth comeback stadium tour, another much-loved Britpop act was making smaller, yet equally significant, waves of their own. Pulp: What Do You Do for an Encore?, the new concert documentary film from director Garth Jennings, chronicles Pulp’s rise to fame culminating in a sold-out show at the O2 Arena.

Narrated by Jarvis Cocker in that distinctly deadpan wordsmithing that has underscored his public persona, the film is less a standard rockumentary, more a concert film interspersed with an oral history. It’s edited in a charming, kitschy scrapbook style, most notably in the form of archival interviews, photo stills and old TV adverts such as Cadbury’s Milk Tray. It creates a unique glimpse into the mind of Cocker, who admits he lived vicariously through a television screen, owing to his bad eyesight. Cocker talks about the concept of pulp itself, looking at disposable culture and finding the gems that can be unearthed. As he says, his mission statement was “using second-hand items to make a brand new product”.

Fans who may have hoped for a conventional career retrospective are likely to be disappointed. The history is far from exhaustive; for an artist seemingly so consumed with the ambition of becoming famous, Cocker doesn’t really show how it happened, instead giving the impression of the group being an overnight sensation when that’s far from the truth (the band spent 15 years in relative obscurity). But then, is another by-the-numbers, rags-to-riches rock ‘n’ roll fairytale doc really needed?

The band’s strength is in their live performance, and Cocker’s ability to connect with thousands of people, whom he frequently reiterates are responsible for his success. With a lengthy music video portfolio, including Blur, Radiohead and two for Pulp themselves, Jennings is the ideal director for the picture. The concert footage doesn’t rely on any gimmicky editing; it’s a straightforward live recording and an excellent one at that.

A look back at the band’s peculiar rise to stardom, this is an enjoyable collage of the weird and wry world of Cocker and Co. Pulp: What Do You Do for an Encore? has all the wit and earnestness that makes the band such effective pop-art provocateurs.

Antonia Georgiou

Pulp: What Do You Do for an Encore? is released nationwide on 18^th September 2026.

Watch the trailer for Pulp: What Do You Do for an Encore? here: