Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened Director - Chris Smith Rating - 4/5 Those of you expecting an hour-and-a-half of schadenfreude while watching Fyre, the explosive new documentary on Netflix, will likely be disappointed. Instead of tracing the chain of events that, in 2017, created a Lord of the Flies-like atmosphere on a Bahamian island, the documentary tries to understand how one man - the now convicted felon Billy McFarland - could dupe thousands of people of their money. Many of you might remember being mildly amused at the news that emerged from the disastrous event, where hundreds of rich kids were flown down for what was promised to be an exclusive music festival, only to be greeted by a mismanaged mess. Instead of the large villas they’d paid thousands of dollars for, they were told they’d be staying in tents - repurposed after the last hurricane - and instead of eating meals prepared by celebrity chefs, they were served cheese sandwiches in styrofoam containers. Unable to comprehend the unfairness, the rich kids adopted a mob mentality and began looting and pillaging the island, peeing on others’ mattresses for no reason, and posting Instagram updates. Watch the Fyre trailer here As news of the scam spread, the festival’s organisers fled the scene, leaving the rich kids trapped on the island, without the resourcefulness necessary to arrange for a way off it. “This is Darwinism at its finest,” one comedian joked later. Interestingly, the Fyre Festival wasn’t the flagship event at all. It was merely a marketing ploy for a different product - a music booking app conceptualised by McFarland, an entrepreneur with a spotty track record; a man who made up for his severe lack of charm by somehow convincing rich investors of the potential of his ideas. Rapper Ja Rule and Billy McFarland, the brains behind the Fyre Festival. The film brings together several of the men and women who worked closely with McFarland during the run-up to the event - social media experts and organisers and caterers and managers; all of them millennials themselves. The man who McFarland hired to handle logistics was a self-taught pilot; the guy in charge of booking talent had never booked anyone in his life. Each of the individuals featured in the film is very clear about their disapproval for McFarland’s methods. According to them, it was clear that they were in over their heads, and many claim to have told McFarland to pull the plug on several occasions. But Billy, in his own words, was ‘selling a pipe-dream to the average loser’. It is later revealed that he was producing false documents to investors and duping them out of millions in order to fuel his hair-brained schemes. He was ‘unflappable’ in moments of conflict, according to one person, and utterly ‘delusional’ when it came to what he thought about himself. Pictures of the food served at the Fyre Festival went viral. Director Chris Smith, who knows a thing or two about delusion - he made the modern non-fiction classic, American Movie in 1999 - makes the canny choice to use bits of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ score from Gone Girl, a film about a psychopath who cons the media. Reznor and Ross previously won an Oscar for their score for The Social Network, another film about a millennial entrepreneur, who currently finds himself under the scrutiny of the law. But Fyre stops short of criticising the several other parties that were complicit in this farce. It absolves, for instance, the truckload of supermodels who were paid untold millions to promote the festival despite having no knowledge about it, and without disclosing to their legions of followers - as they are compelled to by law - that the posts were advertisements. It also excuses the hundreds of vapid millennials who paid exorbitant amounts of money to a strange company, with the sole purpose of being able to boast about their exclusive weekend on social media. Local labour was employed and unpaid. There is real tragedy here. The kids are wealthy enough for them to be able to simply chalk this down as a bad experience - certainly, the festival revealed the worst tendencies of millennial culture - and if they learnt any lessons, the documentary does not dwell on it. But this wasn’t just a case of the rich scamming the richer. The Fyre Festival site was constructed mostly by local labour, most of whom remain unpaid to this day. The construction proceeded despite McFarland’s absolute knowledge that the labourers working for him, day and night for over a month, would never get their dues. It is to the film’s credit that this aspect of the story is highlighted. There is emptiness in this culture, and some might find it troubling. But behind its slick thrills, Fyre burns with surprising insight. Follow @htshowbiz for more The author tweets @RohanNaahar ott:10<doc-sep>Though many of the people working to make Fyre Festival a reality did so in good faith, that could not necessarily be said about Billy McFarland, the festival’s co-founder (along with rapper Ja Rule), who is serving a six-year sentence in federal prison for fraud for his part in the fiasco.<doc-sep>Netflix are delivering all the high quality goods right now, aren't they? Just weeks after we binge-watched YOU and scared ourselves silly with Birdbox (and that's not forgetting the brilliant Sex Education), they've dropped Fyre Festival documentary, Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened. If you haven't seen it already, IT'S SO GOOD. In case you missed the April 2017 scandal, Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened documents the true story of Billy McFarland, the CEO and founder of Fyre Media, and rapper Ja Rule's attempt at putting on a Coachella-style festival on an island in the Bahamas. This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Netflix They promised yacht parties with models, high-end catering and performances from huge musical acts. In reality, they delivered flooded tents with no bedding, a severe lack of food and water, and no accommodation for over 300 paying guests. The festival went viral at the time for drastically failing to deliver on its hype, and the Netflix documentary is making waves for giving a mind-boggling and entertaining insight into where it all went wrong. Here are 13 of the best reactions from people who have seen the documentary. 1. When it was compared to a fictional horror movie This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Watching #FyreFestival on Netflix gave me so much anxiety. Best thriller/horror film of 2019 so far — Paul Jason Perez (@pvperez1) January 20, 2019 2. When their priorities were all wrong This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. We should all be more this guy #FyreFestival pic.twitter.com/d5fp15RIUT — HollyLouise (@H_DaisyStower) January 20, 2019 3. When it all feels a bit too close to home This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Brexit is going to be the fyre festival isn’t it — Phil Wang (@PhilNWang) January 21, 2019 4. When it makes you reconsider British festival culture This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. V rich Americans: Omg Fyre is the worst how can we be expected to live like this All Irish festivals ever: pic.twitter.com/fM3rOsgzPy — Jack Horgan-Jones (@JackHoJo) January 20, 2019 5. When you're just completely gobsmacked This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. The Fyre festival guy who was prepared to suck dick for Evian water is the kind of person I want on my team — taco (@jordantaco7) January 20, 2019 6. When Marie Kondo asks if you find joy in it This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Me watching the Netflix Fyre Festival documentary pic.twitter.com/20eTfbVuT0 — silly rabbit (@antthemy) January 20, 2019 7. When you need answers This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Who ever thought this GIF would be back? What was old is new again. 😂 #fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/Wr9eWVKL6L — 🌈Kierstan🌈 (@Kierstan77) April 28, 2017 8. When these images are ingrained in your brain This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. The Netflix #Fyre doc’s biggest failing was nobody reviewed the cheese sandwich. Was the toast too dry? How was the dressing-to-lettuce ratio on the side salad? The tomato was a bold choice - did it work? pic.twitter.com/pj7Fegcaqa — Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) January 19, 2019 10. When you NEED to know more This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. *furiously searches up every interviewee, attendee, and/or past employee in the #fyre doc on LinkedIn* — qwarrentine (@bonjourhiwarren) January 19, 2019 11. When the sandwich pushes you over the edge 12. When you're taken on an emotional rollercoaster This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. the fyre festival experience pic.twitter.com/bgYakYCysq — Wild Geerters (@classiclib3ral) January 21, 2019 13. Wait, what? This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. incredible twist in netflix's fyre festival doc pic.twitter.com/dboItPYszr — Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) January 20, 2019 Probably going to watch it again soon, tbh. Dusty Baxter-Wright Senior Entertainment & Lifestyle Writer Dusty Baxter-Wright is Cosmopolitan's Senior Entertainment and Lifestyle Writer, covering celebrities, movies, TV and books as well as travel, interiors, food and drink on a daily basis. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io<doc-sep>
Thought you knew all there was to know about Fyre Festival, the calamitous, influencer-led fuck-up that left hundreds stranded on an island in the Bahamas in 2017? You ain’t seen nothing yet. This weekend saw the release of Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened on Netflix, a tell-all documentary digging into the development and subsequent implosion of Fyre Festival. And it’s one hell of a ride. From botched deliveries to full-on fraud, the story of Fyre Festival goes a whole lot deeper than just some bloggers getting stitched up. Unsurprisingly, the film has elicited some fevered social media reactions. The only level-headed guy on the island We should all be more this guy #FyreFestival pic.twitter.com/d5fp15RIUT — Holly Stower (@H_DaisyStower) January 20, 2019 This calm, knitwear-loving fella seems to be the only sane person in the whole doc, at times. Drafted in to help turn the festival from promo video to actual real event (or try, anyway), his quips have captured the hearts and minds of more than a few viewers. Oral fixations Almost definitely the wildest part of the whole documentary comes when one of the festival’s team is drafted in to “take one for the team”. Wondering what that means? Well, festival founder Billy McFarland had ordered a festival’s worth of water to be delivered to the Bahamian island he was looking to host Fyre Festival on. Only, he hadn’t factored in customs charges. And it got held up at customs. His solution? Send a partner to offer a sexual favour to the customs officials, in exchange for the release of the water. AND HE ALMOST DID IT. This is, apparently, real life. No, seriously. This happened. I literally havent tweeted since 2017, but I came here just to say THAT DUDE WAS READY TO SUCK DICK TO GET WATER OUT OF CUSTOMS. I thought the story of Fyre Festival couldn't get any better and yet, here we are. #netflix #fyrefestival — SaraSwearsALot (@SaraSwearsALot) January 18, 2019 Andy's next new client meeting "So Andy, how committed are you to getting the job done?" Well…#Fyre pic.twitter.com/CG6GWSINj5 — Victoria Laird (@VickyLaird) January 21, 2019 https://twitter.com/guruangelina/status/1086837868725719042 Fly me to the moon One particularly amazing moment comes when someone is drafted in to help fly around the island to get shots for the Fyre Festival’s promotional video. How did he learn to fly said private plane? Why, Microsoft Flight Simulator, of course. What else? https://twitter.com/iLivi2011/status/1086448355188850688 Say cheese Despite the carefully orchestrated social media marketing campaign, and the costly models that filled Fyre’s promo video, the festival wasn’t impervious to the power of negative social media. A now-infamous viral photo of a cheese sandwich was all it took to bring down the fest itself, and turn Fyre into a laughing stock. But, weirdly, the documentary didn’t address the sandwich itself in any real detail. One for a sequel, perhaps. The Netflix #FyreFestival documentary neglected to address whether the cheese sandwich served was any good. — Todd Barry (@toddbarry) January 19, 2019 Billy no mates Of course, the goofish head of the whole operation came under a whole lot of criticism. Billy McFarland looks like a dude who would get drunk on night one of The Bachelorette and fall in the pool after grabbing her ass. #FyreFraud #Fyre — tierney bricker (@tbrick2) January 19, 2019 Under the influence The reams of influencers, bloggers, Instagram celebs and YouTube stars who flocked to Fyre Festival were also the butt of many of the jokes. Some wanted to see the stunt repeatedly, albeit in a slightly more extreme form: https://twitter.com/idannyxd/status/1086176461181071360 While others were slightly more serious, pointing the finger at the high-profile, highly-paid models who accepted money from the festival, when the locals who helped build the thing were left penniless after McFarland fled: Maybe Kendall Jenner, Hailey Baldwin & Bella Hadid could donate the payment they received for their #fyrefestival Instagram post to the locals who never got paid for their work on #fyre festival — Danielle (@stylesnooperdan) January 18, 2019 And then there’s this guy, laughing it all off Sometimes that’s all you can do, to be fair.