The Netflix documentary, "Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened," investigates the infamous Fyre Festival and its co-founders Billy McFarland and 90s rapper Ja Rule. The film gives audience members a deeper insight into the inner workings of Fyre Festival and provides a definitive timeline to when the idea of Fyre and Fyre festival came to be and the disaster that was created in the Summer of 2016. But despite this, people still decided to go. To promote the app, McFarland decided to throw a massive party which eventually morphed into Fyre Festival. For the rest of us, who were either not as rich or foolish enough to spend thousands of dirhams on a ticket, there was more than a hint of schadenfreude in watching the whole thing unfold in real time. McFarland shares a similar interviewsetting for those who have gotten into his orbit, whether it's lawyers, former employees, or social media types,who speak in big spacesthat look like someone forgot to fill in. As the chaos mounted, and people started to show up, she worked and worked, bringing employees in and forcing them to take all-night shifts in an effort to do something to keep people happy. The Netflix documentary interviews multiple people who were involved with Billy McFarland at any point in time, whether it be from his former company, Magnises, or the employees who worked directly with McFarland on Fyre Festival itself. "Any tent that was done is now unliveable. They startwork on Fyre Fest a mere four months before the first arrival, dumping the on-the-ground responsibility on hired workers and Bahamians who worked day in and day out. Powerful Stories About Martin Luther King Jr. Popular YouTubers' Books for Kids and Teens. In other words, both are relatively concise, which is a good thing if you plan to do a double feature. Here are software engineers who worked for McFarlands app, event organizers he hired to pull off the festival, and the social media marketers who aided and abetted his illusion. The photograph was posted on social media at the time by a furious festival-goer expecting exclusive parties with supermodels. Dont worry, it wont take long. Nearly every interview in Fyre produces another WTF revelation from the gentleman who was asked to perform a sexual favor to get the water bottles needed to keep people hydrated through customs to the Fyre employees ordered to put money on wristbands that would ostensibly be used at the festival but were clearly offsetting rising costs. By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. One doesnt happen without the other. None of the people got to see the progress photos from the place they were going to stay in. McFarland and his cofounder, the rapper Ja Rule, are ruthless villainsas greedy as they are narcissisticand yet they manage to convince an incredible number of investors and employees and ticket-buyers that they have entrepreneurial vision. The tents, meanwhile, which are supposed to be luxury, are left-over hurricane tents. That world isn't available to everyone. It's tempting to say that things went "predictably wrong" but they went wrong in unpredictable ways too. To most of us, the Fyre Festival, a high-profile debacle in the Bahamas in the spring of 2017, crystallized something about Internet culture. Each daily disaster will ultimately culminate in the event itself, which is a failure of massive proportions. Can Anyone Predict Whos Going to Win Best Supporting Actress? Fyre review viral festival disaster relived in shocking Netflix A young entrepreneur called Billy McFarland was working with rapper Ja Rule on an app called Fyre, which was designed to let ordinary people book talent. Both of the documentaries consider what the Fyre Fest debacle says about how Americans, particularly a subset of wealthy millennials, live according to aspirational values. I do not like that the films have also been giving more attention to the perpetrator in question, Billy McFarland, which is exactly what he wanted to receive from his multiple business ventures and scams, such as Fyre Festival and Magnises, to get more publicity then find more investors to give him money to make another scam. How many of us considered these stories when we gleefully shared images of a bad cheese sandwich? If youre seduced by models, Instagram influencers, and FOMO hysteria, this is what you deserve. Fyre shows what happens when you take that to an extreme.. Nason & Furst have a welcoming flashinesswhen telling this story, cutting quickly between talking head interviews, select archive footageandvarious accentuatingclips from pop culture, as if it were taking that filmmaking method back fromsecond-stage Adam McKay movies The Big Short and Vice. These clips can be appropriately hit and miss, especially if things are too on-the-nose, like a whack-a-mole insert meant to accompany McFarland's comparing of his self-made problems to the futility of that game. The tents, meanwhile, which are supposed to be luxury, are, It goes on and on, but even when the money runs out and the lie. So, how can you decide which Fyre Festival documentary is most suited to your interests? Netflix Fyre Festival Documentary Review | Vogue Fyre Fraud - Wikipedia The babies of the 80s and 90s may resent the stereotypes that rear their heads in the Hulu documentary, but it does raise provocative points about what makes portions of this demographic so susceptible to endorsements from Kendall Jenner and other, similar attempts at Insta-marketing. Cinemark Some festival-goers were even being yelled at over the phone being demanded to put money on their bands. Those who like to laugh at rich white people and scoff at impressionable millennials will get the most bang for their buck on Hulu. But the Netflix film spends a fair amount of time on similar moments, even using the same school bus footage to capture the initial moments of Fyre horror. , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes. . Luxury lodgings and the finest cuisine was also pledged. It interviews people who were in direct contact with McFarland every day, for multiple hours a day, for around five months. Fyre Festival: Inside the world's biggest festival flop - BBC News Netflix's 'Fyre': Inside the Millennial Scam of the Decade It promised guests happiness and then made them miserable. Club stated that "Fyre is the stronger, more worthwhile documentary, but its counterpart is a helpful reminder that, like so many stories, one account can't contain the whole truth. These people were burnt by Fyre and are still trying to recover. Things you buy through our links may earnVox Mediaa commission. But Fyre Festival, which took place (in the loosest possible sense) on an island in the Bahamas over a weekend in April 2017, will forever be associated with two triangles of brown bread, a slice of clammy white cheese and a fistful of limp salad all presented in a white polystyrene box. Parents need to know that Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened is a documentary that details the events leading to the Fyre Festival, a 2017 music event that was over-hyped, sold out and a complete fraud. Some festival-goers were even being yelled at over the phone being demanded to put money on their bands. However, realism is also a virtue, and McFarland kept forging until he left literally hundreds of people in his wake, conning investors, getting free labor, and ultimately going to jail for his crimes. begins to be exposed, McFarland refuses to change course. The truth is we love to be sold stufffantasies of popularity, the promise of cachet and status, lies upon lies upon lies. We want to hear what you have to say but need to verify your account. Kendall Jenner was reportedly paid $250,000 to do this. What follows is a series of small calamities as a site is secured and plans are futilely attempted. Ad Choices, 70 Incredible Forgotten Photos From Vintage Oscar Nights, See Every Look from the 2023 Grammys Red Carpet, Phil Ohs Best Street Style Photos From the Fall 2023 Shows in Paris. Billy McFarland was always a con manit really just took the Fyre Festival to expose it. All the essentials: top fashion stories, editors picks, and celebrity style. Stay up-to-date on all the latest Rotten Tomatoes news! Which category (or categories) does Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened fit into? guests below that of the Bahamian people left to pick up the pieces of an undeliverable dream. In one moment of breathtaking stupidity, McFarland and his team decide to host the festival on the same weekend as a popular sailing regatta in the Bahamas, meaning the majority of accommodation in the country is already booked up. The locals who built the site were never paid. Families can talk about the intentions of documentary filmmaking: to inform, to entertain, to inspire, or to persuade. Fyre Festival Documentary Summary and Review - The Eagle Eye From all of these suspicious actions, these consumers should be reasonably concerned, and hopefully, they would ask for a refund after theyve smelled a scam, but the majority of people just wrote it off as a weird incident and decided to still go on the trip. Sometimes shot in profile close-up, his sharp eyes are the most fascinating nature,flickering as they process his next lie while his face tries to look clueless, disarmed. Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix have broken up after he allegedly cheated on her with Raquel Leviss. McFarland bought an island in the Bahamas, Normans Cay, and promoted it to consumers as Pablo Escobars former island. Fyre Fraud lays out more information about McFarlands background and his pre-Fyre endeavors, including a failed, exclusive credit-card company that targeted millennials and should have served as a red flag that Fyre, an app that basically functioned as an Uber for talent booking, and its related fest might not come together as planned. This is a story, similar to the documentary Three Identical Strangers, that has to be seen to be believed. The Netflix documentary is more professionally done. Profanity is frequent, including "s--t," "hell," and countless uses of "f--k." There's one frank conversation about oral sex, and people drink frequently (sometimes to excess) and smoke cigars. That is Darwinism at its finest.. The account directed them to their Fyre Festival FAQ email, but the emails sent were never returned. The siren callof social media and the idea of perfection it peddles isfar too irresistible. Fyre is a document of a disaster, speaking to a number of the key players behind the scenes, although never McFarland himself (he is a part of Fyre Fraud, and this great piece by Scott Tobias details the controversy there). The Netflix documentary has received some backlash because it was produced by a company called, F*ck Jerry, who worked closely on the production and social media advertising of Fyre Festival and filmed most of the candid footage seen in the documentary. "It really pains me when I have to talk about it. The latest fashion news, beauty coverage, celebrity style, fashion week updates, culture reviews, and videos on Vogue.com. The Netflix documentary interviews multiple people who were involved with Billy McFarland at any point in time, whether it be from his former company, Magnises, or the employees who worked directly with McFarland on Fyre Festival itself. They really, really, really, really hurt me, she says in tears. (He didnt participate in Netflixs doc; Hulus competing, and less effective documentary, Fyre Fraud, paid for an interview with McFarland). But a brilliant new documentary on Netflix, Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, shows that the real victims of this ill-fated project were not the hoodwinked people who went, but the Bahamian people. "Fyre" - Netflix's version of a pair of dueling documentaries - is positively bonkers, a feature-length look at the planned Fyre music festival that went spectacularly awry . It is a classic tale of hubris. So where did it all go wrong? Oh, and by the way, keep your eyes open during the footage of McFarland on bail, when hes running a new con from his penthouse at the Tuscany Hotel. One day we'll stop making memes about Fyre Fest,but the sentiment behind fomo, and the obsession with following fantasy lifestyles to feel like we're a part of something, will proliferate and only lead to the next worst thing. The Hulu Documentary interviewed a former worker of F*ck Jerry, who told them that they had a bigger hand in Fyre Festival than the current production company led you to believe, and they werent as ignorant to the ongoings of Fyre as the Netflix documentary led you to believe. In one moment of breathtaking stupidity, McFarland and his team decide to host the festival on the same weekend as a popular sailing regatta in the Bahamas, meaning the majority of accommodation in the country is already booked up. Show me one thing I said thats not true. Toward the end, it shows footage of McFarland on bail, yet living in a hotel penthouse, while a partner in his latest scam tries to persuade previous Fyre Festers to drop tons of cash on tickets to events like the Met Gala and the Grammys. NR 2019 97 minutes Save Rate movie Parents say age 15+ Based on 1 review Kids say age 12+ Based on 4 reviews Watch or buy Common Sense is a nonprofit organization. From all of these suspicious actions, these consumers should be reasonably concerned, and hopefully, they would ask for a refund after theyve smelled a scam, but the majority of people just wrote it off as a weird incident and decided to still go on the trip. Call it product placement, but it also makes for apt metaphors that speak to the same absurd tone, likewhen someone compares McFarlands ventures to those of Jean-Ralphio and Tom Haverfords on Parks & Recreation, their own failed Entertainment 720 business only excelling at displaying flashy nonsense. Overall, this is a film that needs to be seen, due to the fact that people ned to know that things like this happen on a daily basis. After eight lawsuits were brought against him relating to Fyre Festival,he was sentenced in October to six years in prison for fraud. For more news and updates about Reinhardt events, follow our social media platforms: Your email address will not be published. Even though I watched both films, and recommend that the consumer watch both as well if you only want to watch one movie I would watch the Netflix documentary. "Any tent that was done is now unliveable. From one instance to another, this is a film that exposes the worst side of a business that has plummeted to the ground. Why is it that the festival was such a huge disaster? Ive been called a lot of things since the festival, he initially says, then responds with, Youre calling me all these crazy things, man. A group of young adults share their last week of . Again. Guests arrive at Fyre Festival. And it worked. For each of them, including unpaid Bahamian workers, it was a financial fiasco and a commitment unfulfilled. Link Copied! Someone should tell him that the story withinHulu documentary Fyre Fraud beat him to the punch, telling of how a new upstartwith privilege, coding skills, and an intuition for what his peers want mostsold a fantasythat became a monstrous failure. Common Sense and other associated names and logos are trademarks of Common Sense Media, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (FEIN: 41-2024986). Isn't that what social media does? The documentary shows how the Fyre festival crumbled with each day leading up to launch, how the project team reacted to the demands with direct interviews, and how it slowly became clear how corrupt Billy McFarland is. At the center of the controversy is entrepreneur/con artist Billy McFarland, whose desire . Privacy Policy and (Or, at least, which one to watch first.) Fyre Fraud movie review & film summary (2019) | Roger Ebert This statement during the jaw-dropping "Fyre," a new Netflix documentary about the disastrous 2017 Fyre Festival (and an interesting partner with the also-new Hulu documentary " Fyre Fraud ") really gets at the core of who Billy McFarland was during this entire crash-and-burn nightmare. Who has the better Fyre Festival documentary, Netflix or Hulu? Coming Soon. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. Sure enough, when the guests arrive, it is worse than you could possibly imagine: not enough accommodation, not enough food, not enough of anything. While that all seemed great, the budget they came up with and the gameplay they created, clearly wasn(TM)t thought-out enough, because the event itself slowly collapsed and the worst of it happened when the people actually were there to experience it. Now that Meredith is gone, it is business as usual at Grey Sloan Memorial. FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened -- produced by Danny Gabai at Vice Studios, along with Chris Smith, Library Films and Mick Purzycki at Jerry Media -- premieres Friday . If these people would have noticed the signs beforehand, they would not be as upset when they watched the other poor souls on the island that had to sleep on wet beds from the storm the night before. The account directed them to their Fyre Festival FAQ email, but the emails sent were never returned. It's a story that inspired a documentary gold rush(we'll be reviewing a second Fyre Fest doc from Netflix on Friday), but in the case of "Fyre Fraud," it has made for an often hilarious andincisivetreatise on Millennial hubris. And the outcomes for the idealistic, high-achieving staffers in New York City who worked diligently for more than a year on a website that had promise are particularly touching. [11], On the 71st Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Fyre earned four nominations, Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special, Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program, Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction Program (Single or Multi-Camera), and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction Program (Single or Multi-Camera).[12]. If youre watching either of these documentaries to get another hit of enjoyment at the expense of conspicuous consumers misery, honestly, you cant go wrong either way. Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: As part of your account, youll receive occasional updates and offers from New York, which you can opt out of anytime. Excellent film depicting the power of social media, celebrity status and hyperbolic culture that allows mediocre business people to play pretend with real life dire consequences. The documentary plays like a thriller. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. Terms and Policies All rights reserved. What's your takeaway from the movie? Dramedy revisits famous festival, complete with drugs, sex. 'Fyre' Review: Netflix Digs Into a Doomed Festival - The Atlantic To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. All rights reserved. So some decided to ask the Fyre Festival Instagram account some standard questions about their 1 to 2-week stay. In what way(s) is this movie a cautionary tale? It's off-putting and out of place, but the documentary becomes more confident with its tone the more it chugs along. Verified reviews are considered more trustworthy by fellow moviegoers. The Fyre Festival Instagram was posting recycled pictures from the same photoshoot that was shot in Normans Cay, which was not factual. Cinemark The fact that there are two of them, raising the possibility that you might experience some level of regret depending on which one you opt to view, is apropos. They won't be able to see your review if you only submit your rating. Movie Review: Fyre (2019) - The Critical Movie Critics