Everything She Wanted — Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry

Cinematographer Jenna Rosher captures the whirlwind rise of the prodigious pop star.

Billie Eilish made her mark with a voice that’s raw, real and intimate — so it stands to reason that any documentary about her should follow suit. And what’s more raw, real and intimate than cinéma vérité?

The Apple TV Plus documentary Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry is true to form. Up close and personal, it follows the singer from her viral breakthrough with her debut single “Ocean Eyes,” recorded at age 13, to her five Grammys by age 18. (She has since added two more Grammys to her impressive list of accomplishments.)

During the pivotal year when Eilish and her brother Finneas wrote, recorded and toured to promote her first studio album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, director R.J. Cutler and cinematographer Jenna Rosher stuck close by. The vérité veterans captured not only Eilish’s meteoric rise, but also the siblings’ DIY music-making process, the stress of touring, and quotidian moments at home with their parents. Their record of this journey is a coming-of-age story as well, with all the signs of a teen growing up: getting your driver’s license and first car, the travails of having a largely absentee boyfriend, goofy handshakes with your brother, and, since this is Billie Eilish, connecting with fans on Instagram Live with a pet tarantula crawling up your shirt. […]

Published in the October 2021 issue of American Cinematographer.