Parents' Guide to

Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened

By Renee Longstreet, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Mature doc about outrageous scam is funny, sad, instructive.

Movie NR 2019 97 minutes
Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened Poster Image

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What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 15+

Based on 1 parent review

doctora
doctora Parent of 5-year-old
June 7, 2022
age 15+

Mediocre business people playing pretend with real life dire consequences

Ja Rule says near the end of the documentary..."Nobody died...Nobody got hurt." But that is not necessarily true. The documentary shows that plenty of people were hurt, lost jobs, were sued, spent money they did not have (like life savings), have PTSD and all in service of a charismatic person that through the guise of positive thinking and grandiose words thought he could will infrastructure into being without expert help. 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.
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What's the Story?

In FYRE: THE GREATEAT PARTY THAT NEVER HAPPENED, it's 2016, and entrepreneur-on-the-rise Billy McFarland has secured the partnership of rap star Ja Rule in his efforts to create an app that will be the ultimate booking service: a one-stop site to schedule big stars for every occasion. To launch the app, McFarland envisions the biggest, most luxurious music festival of all time. To promote the Fyre Festival, he brings a dozen of the world's most famous models to the Bahamas to film a video of beauty, partying, and luxury that will go viral. He makes deals with celebrities to lend their names to "influence" his wealthy, would-be attendees. He promises luxury accommodations, first-tier entertainment, first-class food, and unending fun. Within 48 hours of the beginning of the social media hype, the event is 95% sold out -- with some packages topping $250,000. There's just one problem: It's not going to happen. What follows is a series of small calamities as a site is secured and plans are futilely attempted. Each daily disaster will ultimately culminate in the event itself, which is a failure of massive proportions. Throughout the film, director Chris Smith interviews the mostly sincere folks who tried to deliver what McFarland had promised. For each of them, including unpaid Bahamian workers, it was a financial fiasco and a commitment unfulfilled.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (4):

Smith and his crew successfully capture the often hilarious, often shocking, and sometimes sad outcomes associated with this mega-disaster of a non-event. Smith's interviews in Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened are compelling, insightful, and rigorous. In particular, staff members Andy Hill and Marc Weinstein offer unexpectedly open, personal recollections. It all happened recently, and it's more powerful for that immediacy. Viewers who may laugh loud and long at the "trials and tribulations" of the very rich people who were the marks of such an outrageous con man will certainly feel the poignancy of the many who were swindled out of time and money. 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. As for McFarland? Who could imagine a delusional narcissist of such humongous nerve could fool so many?

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the intentions of documentary filmmaking: to inform, to entertain, to inspire, or to persuade. Which category (or categories) does Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened fit into? What's your takeaway from the movie?

  • Do you think social media/the internet should bear significant responsibility for the disaster? How was McFarland's scam made possible by free hype and advertising he was able to use? Were you aware of the term "influencer"? Why is it important to be aware of paid influencers' participation on social media?

  • Who is adversely affected by the misbehavior of Billy McFarland? Where do filmmaker Chris Smith's sympathies lie?

  • What is meant by the term "a cautionary tale"? In what way(s) is this movie a cautionary tale? Think about how awareness and common sense can protect you from such scams.

Movie Details

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