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James Cameron has found another strong female to celebrate in this get-up-and-dance, visually electrifying burst of pop iconography.
Yes, it’s in 3D which means shelling out to put on the annoying glasses again – something you’ve probably only done for the Avatar films and the odd fancy dress party since 2013 – but at least Cameron really knows how to use the tech. Apart from the confetti-cannon finale, this isn’t the hackneyed stereoscopic where things burst through the screen, but an immersive front row and on-stage spot at Billie Eilish’s 2025 world tour.
Filmed across several nights of the singer’s 2025 world tour in Manchester’s Co-op Live arena, and co-directed by Cameron and Eilish herself, it opens without preamble: a giant cage lifts up from the stage and the singer jack-in-the-boxes out and into a storming rendition of ‘Chihiro’.
You could fill Manchester’s canals with the tears shed
Hip-hop influences worn on her baggy sleeves, Eilish spends two hours spinning, skipping and prowling across all four corners of the stage, clad like a zoomer Gwen Stefani and purring like a Weimar chanteuse. Her stagecraft is staggering. Her below-stagecraft, too. She disappears beneath the platform clutching a camcorder and projecting images onto the four big screens above, letting her audience behind the curtain to see the magic trick as it unfolds. She’s not a pop star who finds power in mystique or distance from her fans, and her co-director has no interest in burnishing any of that. This concert doc is about the bond between artist and fans. You could fill Manchester’s canals with the tears shed. Backstage, Eilish shows off – and waves off – the scratches left on her hands by over-zealous front-rowers.
With Cameron’s phalanx of cameras hovering, zooming and swirling above, Eilish’s pin-drop ballads lose some of their shivery power on screen (and don’t come for the Bond theme). My mind wandered during a middle stretch where the acoustic guitars come out – why is her band dressed like holiday reps? How do you organise a green room full of puppies? – but hardcore fans will lap it all up. ‘What Was I Made For?’ from Barbie is a showstopper.
The behind-the-music interludes are mainly intimate and insightful, as the doc cuts back to the hours leading up to the gig. There’s gushy confessions of love for the fans, and pre-gig vox pops full of Billiemania, but they’re sincere – Eilish treats her fanbase’s emotional connection with seriousness and care. She’s a refreshing, reflective presence, even when trying to relax in her hotel room as Cameron wanders in with a massive camera.
He’s not in the film loads but the rapport between this one-time Hollywood enfant terrible turning surrogate girl dad and his co-director is sweet and unexpected. Look out Tinseltown: a new filmmaking career is up and running.
In cinemas worldwide Fri May 8.