Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry is a must-see concert film

The Apple TV+ documentary Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry takes us on a coming-of-age journey with the 19-year-old pop star, Billie Eilish, as she begins her meteoric rise to superstardom.

Director R.J. Cutler was allowed exclusive access to the 17-year-old singer before she became famous. Cutler has a keen eye for capturing the intimate moments in his vérité fly-on-the-wall technique. He broke down barriers, allowing the audience to connect with Vogue EIC Anna Wintour in The September Issue. He has the same ability in this film to allow the audience to feel the pain and vulnerability of our emo pop princess.

There aren’t many people in the world who understand what it feels like to lose your privacy and anonymity at the same time. According to ET Online, R.J. Cutler stated, “[For] every 17-year-old, your 17th year’s quite a ride. But this one involved, you know, emerging as the voice of a generation, if not the voice of our time, and the burdens, responsibilities, privileges, opportunities that go along with that.”

Billie Eilish now has five Grammy awards. The LA native has over 137 million followers, and her music has been streamed over 55 billion times. But what was her life like before all the hoopla?

The road to fame starts in her childhood bedroom writing and recording songs with her brother, Finneas O’Connell. Her older brother is her mentor and collaborator on all of her music. The process for artists to create their songs is often an arduous one. But we instantly notice that Billie and her brother have a rapport that aids in their successful pairing as a duo.

We feel like we are in the room, while Billie and Finneas scribble lyrics, show us hand-drawn body part doodles, share silly handshakes, and discuss the inspiration for each ballad. Their recording setups are often bare bones, only including a mic stand, iMac, a laptop, and Apple GarageBand. I have personally seen the recording process firsthand from when Kanye West, who is a family friend, was first starting his career.

This sparse use of equipment is noteworthy because a rapper/producer like West and other musicians often reserve professional recording studio space. I have visited West in his LA studio during a recording session on his first album called The College Dropout. West blew up into a global star quickly rising from obscurity to garner accolades and Grammy Awards, just like Billie Eilish. He also has certain traditions to gain inspiration that he often adheres to during recording sessions including playing board games and Connect Four. That’s another reason it was a joy to see Billie and Finneas’s approach to creating her debut album which was a smashing success resulting in When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

The most endearing part of this film was witnessing Billie Eilish as a raw and emotional teenage girl. She gets excited about a new car. She even opens up to her mom about dealing with depression and suicidal thoughts that are incorporated in her music. It is easy to understand how grueling a world tour can be for a hormonal teen who just wants to go ice skating with her boyfriend nicknamed “Q”.

The movie clocks in at a 140-minute runtime. But the film draws us in as Billie admits that she hates the process of songwriting and will probably not make another album. The other hidden gems for Billie Eilish fans are hearing her live music and learning the identity of her secret boyfriend, Brandon “Q” Adams. The rapper is known as 7:AMP and released an album in 2019 called BLEAUPRO. The two eventually split after their emotional rollercoaster relationship almost tears the songstress apart. “I can’t fix him. I’ve tried,” she says after their messy breakup. Her former lover was her muse who inspired the lyrics, “Is there a 12 step just for you?”

The funniest moments of the film occur at Coachella, when Billie meets her fellow pop stars, Katy Perry and Justin Bieber, and actor Orlando Bloom. Billie doesn’t immediately recognize Bloom after Perry introduces him as her fiancé. She feels embarrassed when her brother tells her that Bloom starred in The Pirates of the Caribbean. “I thought he was some dude Katy Perry met,” she confesses to Finneas.

I couldn’t help but chuckle because, the first time I met Katy Perry, I was in a similar situation. I said hello, and she quickly introduced me to a male friend who was standing beside her. He flashed a smile while shaking my hand, and there was no hesitation when he quickly introduced himself to me: “Hi…I’m Orlando.” I returned the gesture and let him know that I immediately recognized him. “I know who you are,” I blurted. The heartthrob was hosting the party that I attended!

So, I can understand why he would just assume that Eilish would know who he is, especially since he was standing next to Katy Perry. Billie was able to mend her misunderstanding with Bloom by giving him a big hug and telling Orlando how much she loves him at the big show.

Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry review: A must-see concert film

By Shani Harris | Feb 27, 2021