Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry; Grade: B
Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry is a documentary featuring recording artist and song writer Billie Eilish. Here in this documentary we get an intimate look at the artist rise to stardom, process within the making of her Grammy awarding winning album, tour life, and her everyday struggles dealing with being an everyday teenager, mental health, and her relationship.
This documentary premiere on the Apple TV Plus streaming service and was shown in a few selected theaters, thankfully this film was shown in a theater just a couple hour bike ride away. I felt a theatrical showing of this film was more suitable, due to the fact it features live performances so absolutely needs a proper sound speaker, plus Neon Rated Documentaries typically never miss due to their originality and their consistent unique style.
The film making felt similar to the likes of Neon Rated documentaries, where the visuals look absolutely stunning as it feels you're not really watching a documentary. Great lighting sequences whether it be Billie's music video sequences, her live performances, or Billie's unique appearance that brings a vibrant intriguing presence in visual terms.
The substance started off slow, as it took me a little bit to get interested in Billie's life as far as her working towards to stardom. When it starts going it becomes not only more engaging, but surprisingly very relatable to the everyday teenagers, whom struggle with everyday life like Billie. Believe it or not Billie is extremely fragile, as she struggles with insecurity issues and acceptance especially from social media presence. Social Media has contributed a great amount to the ongoing mental health crisis we're currently in, as Billie can feel terrible about herself if even one person is unhappy with her out of millions of people. As once a teenager I can understand her issue, as taking in millions of followers can feel overwhelming, as you feel as if you need to please everyone, where you should just be just pleasing yourself and enjoying life with those you love.
I do feel in one sequence when Billie expresses a great amount of frustration, over a fan not being pleased with meeting Billie at a meet and greet, Billie's mother could've done a better job with handling Billie. Billie's mother tells Billie she and Billie's team have failed her, as the meet and greet should've never occurred in the first place, which resulted in a fan not being happy. Billie's mother should've just taught Billie a valuable lesson, that not everyone is going to like you as one person out of 17 million fans (Going by Instagram followers at the time) is going to end your life or end your career. Teaching Billie that whenever problems occur, that it's everyone else's fault was troublesome, as you should teach Billie proper lessons. Especially in this unhealthy social media acceptance world we currently live in, you should teach her that none of that really matters, as all that matters is loving yourself and loving the people around you.
There's also this one short sequence, where Billie sings that she wants to fall off a tall building I believe, as her mother expresses concern while Billie expresses comfort in singing about it rather than doing it literally. I found that oddly relatable, as the novel I'm currently writing about, I have written a fictional character taking their own life in which was influenced to be about me, only the character is named a name my parents almost named me. It can be troublesome from others, however though hard to explain, me and Billie writing it down in a fictional or metaphorical way in a song can bring a sense of comfort, just by letting it out on paper than actually doing it, which I think people would rather have us expressing our emotions and feelings on paper than literally harming ourselves. It's refreshing to hear I'm not the only one that lets it out on paper, doesn't make me feel like a total freak... No need for random text messages, I'm doing extremely well thank you.
Enjoyed the music sequences, as it honestly brings on a new admiration towards the likes of Billie Eilish's music. Don't get me wrong: When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? is a solid album, I just never really have felt a much deeper connection to her lyrics when it was brought to me from an intimate close up look, plus she's extremely talented regarding vocal wise. To summarize it: It felt like an experience. Like you got to experience the highs, lows, rise to stardom, the triumphs with this singer as it almost felt like as if you're becoming an acquaintance with Billie. T'was a enjoyable experience that made you feel many emotions, where you develop a connection in a way where you feel as if you're not alone with the problems you're currently dealing with.
Overall, Billie Eilish: The World is a Little Blurry is a solid documentary. I recommend checking this one out, much preferred a theatrical showing but if it's not showing in an area near you, do watch it on Apple TV Plus. -Mitch Smietana