Fyre Fraud

Fyre Fraud examines the failed Fyre Festival, a luxury music event promoted by organizer Billy McFarland and rapper Ja Rule that collapsed when the necessary infrastructure for the venue, performers and guests was never put in place. The advertising campaign spread through Instagram models and other celebrities before the event turned into a public disaster that left thousands of paying attendees stranded. The film looks at the episode as a product of social media influence, late capitalism and shifting ideas about truth and morality, and it draws on an interview with McFarland himself.

Julia Willoughby Nason and Jenner Furst directed the documentary and wrote it with Lana Barkin, with Barkin and Michael Hoyte producing. It was the first of the two features Nason and Furst have directed, followed by Thank You Dr. Fauci. McFarland appears as himself alongside commentator Jia Tolentino, Vickie Seger, Diallo Osoria, Ben Meiselas and Delroy Jackson. The production involved 78 credited crew members across the companies Mic, Billboard and The Cinemart.

Released in January 2019, the film received a critics' rating of 6.3 out of 10 from 29 reviews. On IMDb it holds 6.8 out of 10 from around 7,100 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.4 out of 10 from 187 votes. The larger IMDb sample points to solid viewer approval, and the audience scores sit somewhat above the critical average.