People bought tickets because they wanted to live like the Instagram stars they follow online. 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. For other uses, see, List of original films distributed by Netflix, "Get ready to binge: Here's what you can expect from Netflix in 2019", "8 Takeaways From Hulu's Surprise-Released Fyre Festival Doc", "The social media company behind Fyre Festival lost more than 200,000 Instagram followers after being accused of plagiarizing its posts", "Netflix's 'Fyre': Inside the Millennial Scam of the Decade", "Both Fyre Fest Documentaries Have Issues (But, Yeah, We're Obsessed Anyway)", "Fyre Festival Was a Huge Scam. He'd left himself about eight weeks, . For all its, intrigue, Fyre Festival is really just an extreme example of the lie we are sold, when we start scrolling. None of the people got to see the progress photos from the place they were going to stay in. Luxury lodgings and the finest cuisine was also pledged. Premise [ edit] But Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened has other serious things to say about the society we live in. The Netflix documentary is more professionally done. The website's critical consensus reads, "Fyre smolders with agonizing tension when a party in paradise goes awry, but this slickly assembled documentary reserves its greatest horror for damning observations about the dangers of wealth. This 10-digit number is your confirmation number. The dinner that @fyrefestival promised us was catered by Steven Starr is literally bread, cheese, and salad with dressing. If you wanted, say, supermodel Gigi Hadid to attend your party, you could log in to Fyre, pay your money and she'd be there. The Netflix documentary is more professionally done. McFarlands 2017 Fyre Festival, the Woodstock of the Millennial Generation (as someone calls it here), proved to be ascam borne in part frommonumental misjudgment, its FEMA tent accommodations and styrofoam sandwich dinners mere symbolsfor the vacuous nature of our contemporary illusion-driven online culture. And then it starts raining. You're almost there! Fyre Fraud goes a few steps further, not only placing the idea for the festival in a broader historical context but acknowledging the parallels between McFarland and other high-profile grifters, including one who had risen to the highest office in the land at the same time Fyre Festival was being planned. Cinemark All rights reserved. (Or, at least, which one to watch first.) The Hulu documentary seems as if they were picking up the scraps that the Netflix documentary left over and even though they had the opportunity to interview McFarland, it didnt add anything to the story. The Fyre Festival Instagram was posting recycled pictures from the same photoshoot that was shot in Normans Cay, which was not factual. The cost of Fyre wasnt to investors and credulous hipsters who wanted to party with Major Lazer and Blink-182 on a white-sand beach. You can often tell a great documentary from the care that is put intotalking head interviews, of which Fyre Fraud is a textbook example. 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. Which means youre the real winner, because you get to watch both of these very good documentaries. 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. He makes deals with celebrities to lend their names to "influence" his wealthy, would-be attendees. There's just one problem: It's not going to happen. It is a classic tale of hubris. This isn(TM)t a film that will make you feel good about yourself in any way, but rather expose those who do things without fully comprehending the magnitude of what they are creating. All rights reserved. The Netflix documentary, Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, focuses on the disastrous build-up to the event - which was organised by businessman Billy McFarland. Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened is a 2019 American documentary film about Billy McFarland and the failed Fyre Festival of 2017. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Such is the feeling inspired by Netflixs gripping, supremely entertaining, and troubling documentary Fyre, which debuts on the streaming service this Friday. It's off-putting and out of place, but the documentary becomes more confident with its tone the more it chugs along. Little did they know that the money on these wristbands would be going to pay off McFarlands debt and since there was little to no internet on the island, if the wristbands were legitimate, they wouldnt have worked anyway. 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. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. He promises luxury accommodations, first-tier entertainment, first-class food, and unending fun. Netflix announced its highly-anticipated documentary Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened late in 2018, but on the week of its release, Hulu scooped the mega-streamer by releasing Fyre Fraud. If you wanted, say, supermodel Gigi Hadid to attend your party, you could. It interviews people who were in direct contact with McFarland every day, for multiple hours a day, for around five months. Just confirm how you got your ticket. I had already watched Fyre Fraud when I sat down to view Fyre, so I was pretty well-versed in the depths of McFarlands callous fakery. (Chris Smith, the director of Netflixs Fyre, told Tobias that McFarland claimed to be getting $250,000 for participating in Fyre Fraud, though Furst said they paid less than that for the interview.). I found myself disgusted when viewing what the guests had to go through once they arrived. 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. Kendall Jenner was reportedly paid $250,000 to do this. Hulu casually dropped their own Fyre documentary, Fyre Fraud on Monday, apparently just to flex on Netflix's previously announced . eight lawsuits were brought against him relating to Fyre Festival,he was sentenced in October to six years in prison for fraud. Fool's Paradise. If you had a pulse and an internet connection when the Fyre Festival turned from fantasy tropical concert into overpriced, disastrous failure last spring, then you already know the basics of the story told in two new documentaries about one of modern historys greatest moments in schadenfreude. Please reference Error Code 2121 when contacting customer service. We at Vulture wont even charge you a quarter-million dollars for the exclusive privilege of reading this review. Directed by Jenner Furst and Julia Willoughby Nason, it premiered on January 14, 2019, on Hulu . Throughout the film, director Chris Smith interviews the mostly sincere folks who tried to deliver what McFarland had promised. How Tyrel Jackson Williams Brought TikTok Cringe to, Its sort of a newer version of the L.A. actor ride that Kyle is on the first two seasons, but its worse.. But watching him actually doing it in the Netflix one because, of course, he hired a videographer to film it all makes it that much more outrageous. At the center of the controversy is entrepreneur/con artist Billy McFarland, whose desire . It was directed by Chris Smith, and produced by Danny Gabai and Mick Purzycki and was released on Netflix on January 18, 2019. If this turns out to be true, one thing is not in doubt he'll find plenty of customers. 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 . The history of the Fyre Music Festival, from its creation through its unraveling. Ten gorgeous singles meet in a tropical paradise. 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. Isn't that what social media does? "They just wiped it out and never looked back," she says, her voice cracking. Link Copied! Luxury lodgings and the finest cuisine was also pledged. Isn't that what social media does? As people around him scrambled to put together a music festival that could never really happenin a matter of months, McFarlands blind refusal to admit that it was going to be a disaster just amplified the inevitable pain. While I would never personally run an event of this scale or really share any real relation to people who do this kind of thing, I felt terrible for nearly everyone involved in this story. In other words, both are relatively concise, which is a good thing if you plan to do a double feature. The pair started the festival in 2016 to promote their new talent booking agency with the same name, Fyre. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist,The New York Times, and Rolling Stone,and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association. For all its intrigue, Fyre Festival is really just an extreme example of the lie we are sold when we start scrolling. And yet, while Netflixs Fyre doesnt have its own interview with McFarland, I came away from that film even more infuriated with him than I was during the Hulu documentary. 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. 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. Music, Emily Ratajkowski, Migos, Lil Yachty, Hailey Bieber (formerly Hailey Baldwin), Diplo and many more. Smith and his crew successfully capture the often hilarious, often shocking, and sometimes sad outcomes associated with this mega-disaster of a non-event. Within 48 hours, 95 per cent of tickets had sold. How was McFarland's scam made possible by free hype and advertising he was able to use? AP, And most people who know McFarlandthink the 27-year-old will be back after his stint behind bars. Brian Tallerico is the Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. Here(TM)s why I believe everyone should check out Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened. And who you can expect to see performing and presenting. Netflix announced awhile ago that it would debuting Fyre, a documentary about Fyre Festival directed by Chris Smith ( Jim & Andy ), on Friday, Jan. 18. Its startling to see so many urbane, sophisticated, young creativesthe kind of cool kids our media economy reveresensnared in old-fashioned criminality. Netflix's new documentary, Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, is clueing everyone else in on the dramaand giving those of us who thought we knew all of the debacle's hairy details. This is obviously one of the most extreme versions of these stories, which is why it truly can(TM)t get much worse than this. surprise dropped on Hulu earlier this week, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Common Sense Media. ", "Who has the better Fyre Festival documentary, Netflix or Hulu? While developing Fyre, McFarland got it in his head that he wanted to throw a massive party on an island in the Bahamas that was once owned by Pablo Escobar. And the guests are still coming.". By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and
How Do I Protect My Young Child from Cyberbullying? They areremoved from the nonsense of this saga and able to offer their clear perspective, diagnosing what influencers really mean to us, and what our fixation with their business hath wrought. By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie. And yet well look back at "Fyre Fraud"like we do The Social Network, as this is not so much a time capsule but a catch-up to where the beast of social media psychology is headed next. A great example is his interview with Andy King, an event producer who is so loyal to McFarland that he admits he came very close to offering to give a Bahamian customs officer a blow job, at McFarlands request, so the Fyre team wouldnt have to pay customs fees for a bunch of 18-wheeler trucks filled with Evian water. Jason Statham and Aubrey Plaza do not seem like a match made in action-comedy-chemistry heaven, but it somehow works. Do you think social media/the internet should bear significant responsibility for the disaster? It is the documentary's great triumph to relegate the suffering of the organisers and. By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. Little do they know that to win the 200,000 prize, they'll have to completely give up sex. And it worked. But he is shown to be savvy about the culture, appearing very much aproduct of it himself, while constantly being embroiled in one shady promise after another. Before even a minute of planning the actual event was undertaken, McFarland and his mates went down to the Caribbean and shot a promo video, complete with supermodels like Emily Ratajkowski and Bella Hadid cavorting in the sand in their bikinis. McFarland and his team brilliantly marketed the event, using Instagram and multi-million-follower influencers like Kendall Jenner andFuckJerry (the latterof which their handler at the time, Oren Aks, speaks openly here), but were so detached from reality that they didnt perceive what a catastrophic disaster they were setting everyone up for. From Fyre Fraud, a stable narrative arises of where that came from,like with his steel credit card company Magnises, (which only provided the image of having a fancy credit card) further poking holes into the facade that some of the most successful have any idea of what they're doing. It is the documentary's great triumph to relegate the suffering of the organisers and guests below that of the Bahamian people left to pick up the pieces of an undeliverable dream. Still, there are notable differences and a bit of a rivalry between the two documentaries, especially given how Hulu preemptively debuted its film days ahead of Netflixs long-planned premiere. McFarland speaks in a room that's revealed to be large and empty, and perhaps staring into the abyss he has made, calls itominous. Knowing the basics doesnt detract from Fyre, the Netflix documentary that starts streaming Friday, or Fyre Fraud, which surprise dropped on Hulu earlier this week.