Movie review: Billie Eilish and James Cameron make concert movie magic with ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’
Billie Eilish is levitating. Or so it seems. When the pop star first emerges on screen in the mouthful “Billie Eilish — Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D),” she is suspended above a cube built of LED screens, surrounded by a sold-out crowd of over 23,000 fans in the centre of the U.K.’s largest arena — Manchester’s Co-op Live.
She launches into the midtempo “Chihiro,” a house experiment from her latest album, and the 3D magic begins. In the contemporary pop music landscape, Eilish is a rulebreaker — and so is this work.
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The new concert film, co-directed by Eilish and three-time Academy Award winner James Cameron, was his idea. Cameron emailed Eilish’s mother, Maggie Baird — a friend of his wife via their shared interest in plant-based diets and environmentalism — and suggested they shoot Eilish’s “Hit Me Hard and Soft” tour in 3D.
It is new territory for Cameron, in some ways, and old hat in others. His production company has done several concert films, including one with Eilish’s musical hero Justin Bieber, but Cameron hasn’t sat in the director’s chair of a project like this one. A 3D concert film also brings up several technical challenges — a passion of Cameron’s, as anyone who has seen the blockbuster “Avatar” franchise could attest to — and as a fellow outlier of the industry, the pairing succeeds.
Eilish, too, is no stranger to film: She’s the subject of the 2021 documentary, “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry,” and a concert film released that same year, “Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles.” This, however, is her first time co-directing a feature. And where “The World’s a Little Blurry” served as a composite of her come-up and various successes, “Hit Me Hard and Soft” is dedicated to the concert film format while pushing its boundaries.
Transformative live music experience
While no movie can serve as the perfect replica of a transformative live music experience, “Billie Eilish — Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D)” works an immersive magic. Every seat is the best seat in the house in these shots; common issues with concert films find solutions. Audience members are celebrated like additional characters. When the camera is on them, their voices are heard loud — sniffling, screams, cheers, off-key sing-alongs get their shine, sometimes above Eilish in the mix, mimicking the experience of swaying in the crowd.
In 3D, her minimalist set is given a visceral tangibility. Fans see Eilish jump through trap doors, hook into safety harnesses, chug water, dance off-screen, become teary-eyed and embrace her bandmates. At nearly two hours of runtime, it passes like a zephyr, a thrill ride so fun it feels too short.
There is also new insight for the Eilish fan: Cameras escort the pop star backstage and underneath it. At the beginning of the film, viewers experience the tour’s opening scene — and then they get to see it again, from Eilish’s perspective. In other moments, Cameron is on screen with Eilish as she co-directs, giving the film the intimacy of a behind-the-scenes DVD extra detailing how the movie was made … in the middle of it. It’s a compelling watch and demonstrates a deep understanding of a dedicated pop music audience, where accessibility is the most valuable cultural currency.
“You’re like a tuning fork,” Cameron says to Eilish in one scene. “And they’re hitting the same beats.”
There is little narrativising, which often ruins a fine film, turning it into a vanity project. Eilish is shown backstage, strengthening her ankle after suffering a sprain, mostly to highlight the physicality of her performance. In another, she plays with puppies, a brief reminder of her animal rights activism. They’re welcome breaks, but not totally memorable. The strength of the film is Eilish on stage, not in its interview interludes.
