Fyre Festival Showdown: Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened and Fyre Fraud

It's common for rival studios to make very similar movies, especially since you can't copyright a concept like a meteor coming to destroy the earth (Deep Impact and Armageddon) , the White House under siege (White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen), or a teen slasher (Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Urban Legend, Valentine, this could keep going for a bit). It's less common for rival streaming services to buy up and release competing documentaries about the same subject, the infamous Fyre Music Festival, the same week. And because I apparently have the time and patience I watched both of them to give them a proper showdown. So which one is better, The Netflix produced Fyre Festival: The Greatest Party That Never Happened or Hulu's Fyre Fraud?

Category 1: Baseline Information

Fyre is a more traditional documentary. It starts with the aftermath and meticulously details to how the festival came to be, what its purpose was, why people wanted to attend, and all of the decisions that led to its failure, and of course how it became the social media disaster we all know now. It's not flashy, but you'll certainly feel like you know the blow by blow from the incident.

Fyre Fraud is less focused. The movie is clearly trying to tie together multiple storylines and themes including influencer culture, why people fall for con men, and more intimate details from event organizer Billy McFarland (or at least his interpretation). It feels more sensational. 

So if you want a detailed breakdown Fyre Festival is your choice.

Category 2: Holy S*** Moments

Fyre Fraud has a trump card in this category. They got Billy McFarland on camera. Which means they get to ask him about all of the messed up stuff he did and he either refuses to answer or flat out denies deceiving anyone. Fraud also has more first-hand accounts from attendees who highlight the chaos on the ground and little details that add to the madness (i.e. bringing in $2 million of booze but not proper toilets).

Fyre on the other hand, has one of the most shocking admissions I've ever seen on camera from someone working for Billy (thankfully about something he was prepared to do, but didn't) and brings out the human element. It emphasizes how hard this was for the people working the festival vs the attendees and isn't trying to make a cultural statement. It's more human.

And there's plenty of shared information and interviewees between the two that lay out exactly how insane the plan was from day one.

Fyre Fraud etches this one out.

Category 3: Viewing Experience

Your preference between these two films will depend on what kind of documentary enjoy. It you want reveals and culture commentary, Fyre Fraud has you covered. They're trying to make statements and see what this festival's existence and failure says about our culture as a whole. On the other hand Fyre is great investigative journalism. They each have their merits, though Fyre is far more organized and polished.

I'd honestly recommend them both separately and make your decision from these descriptions.

If you do plan on watching them both I'd watch Fyre first to get the facts first and let Fyre Fraud expand your knowledge and intrigue.