When I began watching this, I could only take the first 30 minutes before turning it off. I was aware of Billie Eilish only from her Grammy wins and the song Bad Guy, which seemed to be on a great number of commercials in 2020. From seeing and hearing her music on that limited basis, I was not particularly enamored. I imagined she was a weed-smoking, depressed and dark teenager like so many are. The first part of this film just reinforced that image for me, especially given that she seemed to learn to say the f-word shortly after "Mama".
When I returned to the film the next day, that image began to change. It covers a long enough period of time that you see Billie going through the phases most teens experience, and starting to mature. While her music is not very imaginative melodically, she is a talented singer and can write lyrics that resonate with her audience. And while her wardrobe (especially in the early stages) looked to be mostly brightly-colored potato sacks and her stage presence was largely just bouncing up and down, as the film goes on you can see that she is a beautiful (not just "sort of" as she says) young lady who has truly connected with her audience and wants to do her best for them. Partway through the film you see her being concerned about staying away from cigarettes, drugs and booze, proving my original perception to be incorrect, though in the music business you have to wonder how long she can abstain. By the end of the film I began to admire her and found myself quite liking her determination and talent.
She (and her mother) talk about how depressing and dark her music is, which is true. One hopes that will evolve as she grows up and sees other facets of life. Many teens are in the same situation and I suspect much of that is due to them (like Billie) being on their phones constantly, consuming social media which tends to greatly amplify the negative and often overblown news media. When that is what you see all the time, no wonder you're in a dark place.
The film doesn't show a whole lot of people in her life, which I cannot tell is true or just how it was edited. Aside from her somewhat overwhelmed and at times befuddled parents, and her brother, we saw her struggle with her emotionally neglectful boyfriend. We see moments of her grappling with the demands of her career as things begin to really take off, and at first I wondered why she continued. Was it her parents pushing her into it, making her figuratively dance on a tightrope over something that could destroy her if she fell off? By the end of the film it is clear that while the parents want her to succeed, so does Billie.
The film is arguably somewhat too long, but I can understand why that is, given the time span it covers. I think it makes it a bit of a slog for those who aren't devoted fans. The lack of outside perspectives putting her success in context is a weakness of the film, as is the lack of much to do with her relationship with her record company. Stars are reduced for all of those reasons, but I still recommend it. I suspect it will make for an interesting look back in the years to come.