Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry Apple TV+ doc is an intimate look at the teen superstar’s stratospheric rise

It’s almost hard to fathom just how quickly Billie Eilish became a global superstar. Eilish released her debut EP, Don’t Smile at Me, while still in her early teens; two years later, she would release her smash full-length debut, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? which would go on to sell millions of copies around the world and nab her brother and producer FINNEAS an armful of Grammy awards. Even more telling than Eilish’s stratospheric rise is her wildly devout fanbase; with over twice as many Instagram followers as Barack Obama, Eilish’s music has struck a massive chord with legions of predominately young women, resulting in an intense fandom and Beatlemania-like screaming at fainting at her cathartic shows.

Now comes Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry, a 2-hour+ documentary by R.J. Cutler (Belushi) that tracks the writing, recording, release, and touring cycle for Eilish’s breakthrough album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

Made up of intimate home videos and what must have been countless hours of footage, The World’s a Little Blurry is an intimate and revealing look at Eilish’s creative process, her personal life, and her mind-boggling career trajectory.

The film illustrates a fascinating tug-of-war as we see Eilish working on the tracks for her highly anticipated full-length. She is clearly motivated to capture an honest and true representation of her life in her music, yet she readily admits that she hates writing songs — it’s a painstaking process in collaboration with her brother FINNEAS, not to mention some worried input from her parents about Eilish’s dark material. Eilish is also being pulled between her desire for a “normal” life and the demands of a highly successful performer, from touring across the globe to making nice with leeching industry types who constantly vie for her attention (or for their daughters to grab a backstage selfie).

That’s not to suggest there aren’t perks to her incredible success; her parents buy her the Dodge Charger she’s always dreamed of, and in one of the film’s most endearing moments, she has a near meltdown when Justin Bieber approaches her about working together (the Beebs makes a few appearances throughout as a sort of mentor and supporter).

Yet even with all the trappings of success at such a young age, Eilish still struggles with the basic issues every teenager faces. She has relationship issues, reoccurring physical pain (along with Tourette syndrome), struggles with bouts of severe depression, and like most teens today, she has an innate and nearly debilitating fear of what “the internet” will think about every aspect of her life and work.

While it can be hard to take Eilish at face value given how carefully she manages her image, it’s hard to come away from this doc without admiration for her undeniable work ethic and unique artistic vision. The World’s a Little Blurry is a fascinating look at one of today’s most successful and unique voices, as well as a touching look at a tight-knit family trying to remain grounded and level-headed in the middle of a cultural whirlwind. It must get a little blurry.

Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry begins streaming on Apple TV+ on Friday, February 26.