We watched both Netflix and Hulu's docs about the doomed Fyre Festival, and one gives you a better look inside the fiasco

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We watched both Netflix and Hulu's docs about the doomed Fyre Festival, and one gives you a better look inside the fiasco

hulu netflix fyre

Hulu/Netflix

2017's Fyre Festival became a viral sensation when hundreds of people expecting to party with celebrities on an island in the Bahamas showed up to an event in complete disarray.

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Now two documentaries, Netflix's "Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened" and Hulu's "Fyre Fraud," are out that recount the experience of being there and shed light on the person behind it who is now in prison for fraud.

After seeing both movies, here's what we think the movies' strengths are and which one is the best to watch.

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Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland is in the Hulu doc, but don’t expect anything revealing.

Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland is in the Hulu doc, but don’t expect anything revealing.

Billy McFarland is all over both movies thanks to archival footage, but "Fyre Fraud" is the only one that interviewed him on camera (Hulu paid McFarland to be in the movie). However, don't expect much from the footage. Outside of one time when he and the filmmakers have a little back and forth over how truthful he's being (at one point he said his team lost a box of keys that would have housed many of the attendees) most of the footage used is of him avoiding answers.

The Netflix doc gives you a deeper look inside the promo video that made Fyre Fest go viral.

The Netflix doc gives you a deeper look inside the promo video that made Fyre Fest go viral.

Both movies touch on the infamous Fyre Festival promotional video that went viral thanks to its beautiful island location and its inclusion of models like Bella Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski. But "Fyre" gets a lot more detailed thanks to the footage it obtained from Matte Projects, the company behind the shoot. The b-roll of the shoot is in the documentary and gives an incredible glimpse inside not just the making of the video, but how unprepared McFarland and his team were to pull off the festival.

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The Hulu doc gives a deeper look into Billy’s past.

The Hulu doc gives a deeper look into Billy’s past.

It seems Billy McFarland was a born hustler, and "Fyre Fest" does a great job in showing that. It goes all the way back to his wheeling and dealing when he was in grade school. It also goes into greater depth about his previous ventures before Fyre, including his wannabe Black Card, Magnises, which was touted as a membership club for young professionals in which they would be invited to lavish parties and hard-to-get-into events.

Both docs have a lot of the same footage of what happened during Fyre Fest.

Both docs have a lot of the same footage of what happened during Fyre Fest.

Thanks to social media, you don't have to search far to find footage of an event. And Fyre Festival was no different. If you watch both movies you'll see a lot of the same footage captured by attendees (yes, and both feature the social post of the infamous cheese sandwiches attendees were given). And numerous people who attended are interviewed in both movies.

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Hulu does a better job at explaining the dishonest business dealings Billy did his whole career, not just related to Fyre.

Hulu does a better job at explaining the dishonest business dealings Billy did his whole career, not just related to Fyre.

There's a lot of financial dishonesty to go around when it comes to Billy McFarland's past. Both movies hone in on multiple instances of fraud, but "Fyre Fraud" does a better job of showing that what happened at Fyre Festival didn't come out of nowhere.

Netflix gives more specifics on the chaos of preparing the fest.

Netflix gives more specifics on the chaos of preparing the fest.

One of the things "Fyre Fraud" does the least is give details of what it was like preparing for the festival in the Bahamas. "Fyre," on the other hand, does spend a good amount of time laying out the insane work schedule that went into trying to build the festival from scratch. This makes it all the more painful at the end of the movie when numerous Bahamians talk on camera about never being paid for the work they put in.

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The Hulu doc is more of a think piece.

The Hulu doc is more of a think piece.

Both movies examine Fyre, but "Fyre Fraud" does have moments when it takes a step back and examines the cultural significance of the debacle that took place — from millennials' love of exclusivity to FOMO (fear of missing out).

Both docs explore Billy McFarland's venture after Fyre, which led to him getting arrested, but the Netflix doc has actual footage.

Both docs explore Billy McFarland's venture after Fyre, which led to him getting arrested, but the Netflix doc has actual footage.

Believe it or not, while McFarland was awaiting sentencing for pleading guilty to fraud in connection to Fyre Festival, he was running another scam. This one was called NYC VIP Access where he would offer fake tickets to events like the Met Gala, Coachella, Burning Man, and the Grammys.

Both movies address it but "Fyre" obtained footage of McFarland running the scam, including one instance where he's feeding the lines to the person making phone calls selling the "tickets."

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The last shot of both docs is an interview subject being interrupted by Billy McFarland calling them.

The last shot of both docs is an interview subject being interrupted by Billy McFarland calling them.

It's actually pretty funny, "Fyre" and "Fyre Fraud" end with the same kicker. The interview subject being interrupted by a phone call and who is on the other end? Billy McFarland. In both scenes the person says out loud, "It's Billy!"

Which movie is better?

Which movie is better?

Both "Fyre" and "Fyre Fraud" are strong documentaries and are coming at the topic at different angles. But if you want a detailed glimpse behind the scenes of what led to the festival becoming a disaster, Netflix's "Fyre" is the one worth your time.

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