Prior to watching Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry, the singer meant little more to me than the girl with the Prestone antifreeze-tinged locks whose name frequently appeared on TMZ. The same way people now have the capability to shoot a movie on a phone, Eilish and her brother/producer/performer Finneas O’Connell recorded a song in the latter’s bedroom and posted it online. A week passed and the recording received radio airplay. Three years later she was an international star. I was skeptical at first, particularly upon discovering that the film’s 140-minute running time includes a built-in intermission. But anyone who has amassed enormous success at such an early age can afford to be a little full of themselves. And anyone who can work the term “Oxford comma” into her lyrics deserves attention. As an artist, Eilish is quite the contrarian. Finneas compares the writing process to walking a minefield. The head of A&R at Interscope records desires another hit, and a compliant Finneas aims to pen their best (read: most accessible) song to date. He’s been told to keep his plans a secret from Billie who catches on quickly and replies, “That’s stupid! I’m never gonna do anything ever if I think that way.” Looking to tell her she’s full of shit while managing to make it sound like a compliment, Ambassador Finneas diplomatically counters with, “You don’t have to think that way, but I can.” When mother Maggie Baird chimes in with the suggestion that her daughter follow her voice down a more commercial path by writing more commercial fare, our tortured teenager counters by including lyrics that imply jumping off a roof as an option to living. According to Billie, incorporating such thoughts into her art is her answer to not doing it. Despite her success. the family continues to live in the same house in which Billie grew up. As much as she embraces her fans as part of her extended family, nothing compares to the real deal. It was Maggie and husband Patrick O’Connell who passed on their love of music to the children. They began as a family quartet, like a smaller Partridge Family: same values, different cool tour bus. Where is it written that all teenage singing sensations must flirt with drugs? Both parents act as reminders that their home-schooled duo have an army of people dedicated to ensuring that neither make bad decisions. Those who have been fortunate enough to meet their idols will take great pleasure in Billie’s devotion to Justin Bieber. Watch as the adoring fan melts in the presence of her musical hero. The film’s biggest laugh comes when her people inform Billie that Bieber has expressed interest in appearing on her latest album, masking sure to end the proposition with, “Not that you need it.” The second biggest chuckle is when Patrick looks at his daughter’s freshly manicured press-on nails and asks, “How do you wipe with those?” Surrounded by material like this, one can’t help but question just how much of her gloom and doom angst is real and how much is showbiz. (2021) — Scott Marks