Which Fyre Festival Documentary Is Right For You: Hulu’s or Netflix’s?

The world is on FYRE! If you hadn’t heard of the doomed music festival before this week and were living blissfully unaware of what a Billy McFarland is, that certainly changed when Hulu dropped their surprise Fyre Festival documentary on Monday, Fyre Fraud, just days before Netflix releases FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened this Friday. Two documentaries about one crazy event, what a world!

But if this all sounds a bit overwhelming, and it is, you should know that I’ve seen both of the films and will happily guide you in the direction of which is right for you. Here’s the breakdown of where they succeed, fail, and overlap, and the definitive viewing plan you should follow.

FYRE: THE GREATEST PARTY THAT NEVER HAPPENED on NETFLIX

STRENGTHS: Directed by Chris Smith, this doc is incredibly well done. You hear from a lot of the players involved, from event producers to Fyre employees, to yes, Jerry Media employees, which is why the Hulu doc is accusing the Netflix doc of being biased. Except this insider information helps to shape exactly how and why the Fyre festival ended up being the true mess that it was. They were there, and if they’re to be believed, they were doing their best and working their butts off to make it happen, when they weren’t trying to talk Billy, a man unaccepting of many opinions on the matter, out of throwing it at all. This is the doc that will make you feel for the people involved and affected by all the mishaps: no, not so much the influencers, really, although the rising anxiety levels are palpable, and no, certainly not Billy. There’s much more footage to show how it was and was not coming together, and it’s the Netflix doc that dedicates more time to explaining just how important that picture of cheese really was. This one moves at a quicker pace, covers a lot of ground, includes a lot of people involved and really focuses on the festival itself while remaining sleek and comprehensive, and still manages to pack a lot of empathy along the way.

WEAKNESSES: If you’re much more invested in who Billy is, this one gives you more than enough info to work with but does not go quite as in-depth on all of his delusions the way the Hulu doc does. And after watching that one, it’s hard not to wonder if some of the Jerry Media and other participants only sat to tell their side, or really, cover their asses, although no one truly gets out of this looking good at all. Also if you’re a diehard Ja Rule fan, the other one might have more to offer you.

FYRE FRAUD on HULU

STRENGTHS: Billy McFarland. Fyre Fraud, written and directed by Julia Willoughby Nason and Jenner Furst, is much more an exploration of who this “ultimate used car salesman” con man is and exactly how extensive his general shadiness and actual crimes were before and after the whole Fyre debacle. Fraud not only reveals that he has a girlfriend but interviews her as well, and spends much more time on his early cons (WTF is a Spling?) as well as the legal repercussions of Fyre.

For those that are extremely hyped by the presence of swimming pigs, this one has more footage of the beach pigs in the Bahamas while the models were making the promo video. The doc even goes so far to, in some of the more shocking revelations (at least for myself who saw the Netflix one first), show the pigs being fed beer and reveals that they went on to bite Billy in the balls. Smart pigs!

Fraud shares some of the same interviewees as the Netflix doc including venture capitalist Calvin Wells, blogger Seth Crossno, and influencer Alyssa Lynch, but they also found different event producers, locals, influencers, and past employees of Jerry Media and Magnises to comment, even if they sound awfully pleased with themselves. Personally, I found it to be a major score that they got Billy to admit he spelled the name of his earlier company Magnises wrong (swap the i and the e, bro!). They also include details about a pirate ship he wanted incorporated into the festival, which is ultimately pointless but still a detail the Netflix one didn’t care to spend as much time on, and they demonstrated exactly how chaotic it was when it came to attendees finding their (nonexistent) housing, as well as trying to leave the island to get back to the US, via extra influencer footage. Billy’s lie about a missing box of keys for over $2 million worth of housing is just plain baffling, but something unique to this doc for sure.

Fraud isn’t afraid to get messy, which is a plus when it comes to exposing Billy for the scheme-ster that he is, using leaked emails and footage of him trying to rob customs to get unsold merch back after the festival, and spending more time on his shady dealings post-Fyre, including plans to make a documentary about himself. But a true delight for anyone paying close attention is that it appears there is something in his bottom teeth during the interview?

What the Fraud doc supplies that is incredibly valuable is even thinking to include insight from a psychologist as well as the blatant fact-checking it performs when it comes to Billy’s deceptive lies. Can we get these filmmakers to move into politics after this? That they compare Fyre to Trump at all is…unfortunately scarily accurate.

WEAKNESSES: Billy McFarland. While the amount is in question at the moment, the fact that this doc decided to pay him to be a part of the project, while the Netflix one declined, citing the amount of money he had scammed people including honest workers out of, just leaves a sour taste in your mouth — or should. How valuable was it really to show him looking down at the ground, mumbling “I cannot comment on any ongoing criminal proceedings”, and straight up lying to the camera? Does he even deserve to even chime in, like, hasn’t he done enough damage already? Why bother showing him all defensive and like he’s caught off guard by things they’re bringing up?

The Hulu offering is much more bitter, judgmental millennial-blaming look at the festival that largely relies on journalists (who watched it all go down from the safety of their screens) to speculate smugly on what happened and why. There’s an awful lot of hindsight here, making it easy for many of those interviewed to laugh at the events in between luxuriating in their disdain for “arrogant” and “phone, FOMO, and fame obsessed” millennials who are desperate to be part of the hype (when, hello, you participated in a documentary about the Fyre fest). There’s a hypocritical nature to the doc that starts by using a Dave Chappelle clip to illustrate why no one cares what Ja Rule has to say, and yet, for all intents and purposes, very much cares what he has to say! They compare Fyre to Parks & Rec‘s Entertainment 720 and The Office (how dare you put Billy and Michael Scott in the same sentence), which sure feels a lot like pandering directly to the people you’re mocking.

It’s one thing to hate influencer culture, and many do with good reason, but you can sill examine the events of Fyre without the goal of humiliating and mocking millennials. Fraud mostly frames Fyre as ridiculous, really not even addressing the festival until almost halfway through the film, and skips the opportunity to explore why this event and its downfall was so fascinating, the way the Netflix doc does.

SO WHICH FYRE DOCUMENTARY SHOULD YOU WATCH?

If your interest in the Fyre Festival is low to moderate, but you love a good doc: Netflix

You specifically want a con man story and absolutely despise millennials and all that they do: Hulu

You’re obsessed with the Fyre debacle as a whole and are staying in for the cold long weekend: Both, but watch the Netflix one first.

Where to stream Fyre Fraud

Where to stream Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened