LONDON: Riveting Apple TV+ documentary follows Billie Eilish and her family during the singer’s meteoric rise to fame
It’s hard to remember a time when Billie Eilish wasn’t one of the biggest names in modern music, but Apple TV’s “The World’s a Little Blurry” documentary takes audiences back to 2018, when the teenage singer-songwriter was in the middle of recording her debut album. Still in the throes of the meteoric rise that followed her SoundCloud debut song “Ocean Eyes”, the young musician took the unusual step of allowing documentarian RJ Cutler to follow her around with a camera – from sold out shows and exhausted interviews, to tetchy conversations with her boyfriend and her driving test.
Of course, it’s all sanctioned, so Eilish and her family are (presumably) very aware of who and what is being recorded. But in a way, such awareness actually serves to make “The World’s a Little Blurry” feel more authentic. To her credit, Eilish allows Cutler to capture her when she’s at her very best, embracing fans and beaming during her performances – as well as at her very worst, snapping at her family or storming out of a meet-and-greet. As do her family. Billie’s brother Finneas’ role in her Grammy Award-winning, critically acclaimed record is now common knowledge, and he allows the cameras to see every aspect of their creative process, arguments and all. Her parents, Maggie and Patrick, commit to the project too, allowing audiences in on their attempts to counsel their daughter in the face of such stratospheric success.
Perhaps it’s this honesty that makes “The World’s a Little Blurry” so engaging. Aside from showcasing her prodigious talent, the film also succeeds in portraying Eilish as a very human, very vulnerable young woman – one whose world-weary cynicism sometimes belies her relative youth. Not only does the movie lift the lid on a pair of incredibly talented musicians, it offers a glimpse inside the fame machine – past the glitz and the glamour, to the true heart of how isolating celebrity culture can be. When Justin Bieber and Katy Perry appear in the movie, they advise Eilish to enjoy her success – because both lament how fast the time has flown by. This remarkable film suggests that Eilish has the talent to be a fixture of the music industry for years to come, as well as the smarts to ensure she survives it.
