Whether or not you’re a fan of Billie Eilish, you should probably watch her documentary. The music industry has a habit of chewing up and then spitting out female artists and Eilish’s meteoric rise to fame at such a young and tender age would normally be an immediate red flag. Couple that with her seemingly dark personality and you might be tempted to put her on your worry list, but Eilish surrounds herself with a tight-knit family who don’t just care for her – they care for each other.
RJ Cutler’s Billie Eilish documentary has a tremendous amount of access. We get to see her from the young woman first tasting success on SoundCloud to, almost instantly, a global superstar weighted down with Grammy awards. The film follows her while she writes her first album, whether she’s on the road, or at home, or even up on stage, performing to hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thousands of people. And yet Billie, still a kid, doesn’t seem to love the attention, or being looked at, or being treated like an idol. She struggles to write songs, she struggles with quality vs. quantity when touring non-stop takes a toll on her body and she’s unable to deliver the top-notch performance that only she expects of herself. For such a young kid, her work ethic is remarkable, but even more so is her ability to stay grounded. Clearly mom Maggie, dad Patrick, and big brother Finneas have a lot to do with this. Mom will be helping Billie do the blocking for her next music video in the backyard while dad obliviously picks up dog poop. Finneas delivers sitcom-quality pep talks, psyching up his sister as only he can, and only he understands she needs. The two are clearly close, he her writer and producer, as much responsible for her success as she is. They are a team, often together, never seen squabbling, delighting in each other’s success.
Maybe because this documentary is being shot so early in her career, Eilish in her family seem totally authentic and filter-free, not that they have anything to hide. They’re a surprisingly wholesome family, Billie’s biggest complaint that Maggie drives a minivan, an unappealing thought for a teenager about to get her first driver’s license, and her parents’ main concern seems to have been a tweenage obsession with Justin Bieber that’ll really come full circle by the documentary’s end.
Eilish is a massively talented woman with a solid lime green head on her shoulders and her Nikes firmly on the ground. She is a different kind of pop star, not divorced from her image, but not co-opting it either. She’s protective of herself without being jaded. You will hope, while watching this, that she can continue down this path, continue to make healthy choices, and to blaze a path for a new kind of entertainer – the kind that doesn’t have to sell her soul to get what she wants and deserves.
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 
I’m still not sure who she is.
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Watched a few videos last night to see what the kids are talking about and it sounded like homogenized American Idol-like pop. I’m assuming Millenials grew up watching that show so they assumed what they saw was “music” even though they have full access to a world of sounds with a few taps of the keyboard without ever having to step into a record store. It’s reeks of laziness and unsophistication.
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Interesting. Tubularsock has never heard of her BUT did jump off your review, Jay, to check her out on YouTube.
Great voice and smart-tight production work.
And though not to Tubularsock’s interests, Tubularsock is not a tiny-bopper this week, but her lyrics are on the mark for her demography and she has great stage presences.
The fact that to date she isn’t a drug addict is impressive and seems to have a drive and interest for perfection that may shift to some unique work in the future.
Thanks for the heads up, once again, Tubularsock will skip the documentary and take your word for it.
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Thanks for the review.
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I LOVE her music and personna. Plus black & chartreuse ave been my fav color combo for ages.
I hope she enjoys a long and happy career!
I watched her one of her concerts on PBS (Austin City Limits?) and enjoyed the mix of pre-teens and wine moms in the front rows.
I really want to see this docu but I don’t have apple+
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And for reference of the people dogging her, I’m 58. LOVE Billie’s music and had planned to see her live but the tour was covid-cancelled.
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I didn’t realize there was a documentary about her. I’ll have to watch it.
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I have access to this. I’ve been toying with watching it. Thanks for the recommendation.
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I love her–this came up on my Apple last night and I think I’ll watch it today:-)
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We bought North Billie Eilish tickets for their 14th birthday. The concert was supposed to be in late March of last year. Oops. They’re still hoping to see her someday. Maybe we’ll watch this while we wait.
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jesus i love her so much
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