After what was supposed to be an epic festival goes wrong, four college students are stranded on an island. At home, the festival’s creator tries to circumvent the authorities in order to avoid prosecution for fraud.

SYNOPSIS:

FLARE FESTIVAL is based on the events of the infamous Frye Festival in 2017. Brandon and his college roommate Ed want to have the summer of their lives and don’t feel like going to the same old festival. When they finally find dates on campus to take, Brandon makes a call to the Flare Festival’s sketchy creator, Tony. Brandon buys the most expensive tickets and thinks he’s getting a great deal. Brandon, and the other three college students arrive in the Bahamas thinking they are going to have the time of their lives. Little do they know, things are going to go terribly wrong.

The group heads to Nassau, Bahamas. Brandon and Ed meet Angela and Jill near a ferry dock. They take a ferry to a relatively unknown island which Tony has coaxed the Bahamian government to rename “Flare Island.” Everything seems to be going well so far from the groups perspective. They enjoy an endless supply of drinks and get hyped to arrive at the island. When they get to the island, they make their way to camp sites. They immediately find out that the tents Brandon paid good money for are FEMA refugee tents. The girls tell Brandon to call Tony in order to rectify the situation. Brandon gets Tony’s voice mail an isn’t able to reach him. He tells the group that the opening act starts soon and they should go to the main stage to see if there’s an announcement, which they reluctantly agree to.

At the main stage a live stream begins and Tony appears on screen. He explains that due to difficulties with artists and performers that the festival is going to have to be cancelled. He also tells the festival goers that they will not be refunded any money. He cuts off the stream and the people on the island go into a frenzy. Brandon, Ed, Angela, and Jill huddle close together as chaos on the island surrounds them. At home, Tony is called by his business partner Lil Biggy, a young rapper and asks him why he cancelled the festival. Tony gives him the run around but assures Lil Biggy that there won’t be any legal trouble (which is a lie). The two hang up and Tony casually goes on with his day.

On the island, things are still tumultuous. The group sees people run to the makeshift docks where a bunch of boats are. They realize they need to find a boat to hitch a ride or else they will be left on the island. Left and right, people steal boats and yachts, even fighting people for them and throwing them overboard. The group finds a paddle boat and gets on. Brandon and Ed try to paddle the boat but it’s futile. The boats with engines are far off in the distance and people stuck in the water start to try to get on their small paddle boat. Eventually, the boat is toppled and group falls in the water. The group rises from the water, floating with people. Suddenly, hungry sharks attack people floating in the water and the group begins to panic. Brandon sees a path to the dock and tells the three others to swim with everything they have towards it. The sharks mysteriously don’t attack anyone in the group and they make it to the dock.

Tired and traumatized, the group walks back to the campsite where the festival was supposed to be. They find their tents and decide to camp there for the night. Brandon tells Ed to go find any food he can so they can find out how much they have. Brandon tells Ed that there’s no way things can get any worse. Then a tropical storm happens and the group must hold down a single tent from blowing away. In the morning, the group sees that the storm has done heavy damage to the island. Their tent is the only thing remaining from the festival besides some fragments of the main stage. They decide that they should wait for the ferry to return and that they could make it for a few days.

At home, Lil Biggy watches the news and they start covering the events that occurred on Flare Island. They explain that because of the islands unpredictable weather patterns that a rescue party would be difficult. And since The Bahamas aren’t American territory, international law and bureaucracy would also delay a rescue. Lil Biggy starts to get worried about the legal ramifications of the event. Tony also questions himself in the form of talking to Joe DeMaggio, an old school mafia capo who is actually Tony’s alter ego. Joe tells (or Tony tells himself) that he shouldn’t be worried about getting arrested and that he really didn’t do anything wrong. Tony believes this until he is served papers to go to a court hearing for Flare Festival. Joe convinces Tony not to go which he agrees to, only making the situation way worse.

Back on the island, the ferry never arrives and the group decides they should make a raft in order to get off the island and get the attention of a boat or land on a more civilized island. They build a raft to the best of their abilities but the plan was really doomed from the start. They get out about one hundred yards from the shore when the raft breaks. Brandon has to save Angela from being taken out to sea while Ed and Jill swim fervently to the shore. When the group gets back to the island, Ed gets into an argument with Brandon. Mad that Brandon didn’t decide to go to Coachella and his need for control, Ed says that he’s going to solo. He abandons the group and goes deep into the Island’s jungle. Brandon is left with Angela and Jill. They realize that they are going to be on the island for a while.

A home, Tony realizes that things are getting pretty serious and that he is wanted by the authorities. He tries to leave the country by going to a small airport only to find out that the police are waiting for him. He gets back home and decides to lie low. The guilt and shame being of being associated to a criminal starts to weigh heavily on Lil Biggy. He decides that the only thing he can do to get the heat off of himself is to fake his death. He comes up with a plan to do just that, before going back to his native country England to keep a low profile. Brandon, Angela, and Jill get by on the island eating fish and coconuts. They get water from a pond further inside the island. Ed has become demented in isolation, and every time Brandon tries to reach out to him, he is attacked by Ed.

At home, Lil Biggy carries out his plan to fake his own death. It is successful, and the media decides not to associate him with the Flare Festival fiasco out of respect. Tony intuitively believes that the walls are closing in and it is only a matter of time before the cops find him. Joe tells Tony that before mafia bosses went to prison they would have a night on the town. Tony plans to do the same since he doesn’t know when he’ll be free again. On the island, Brandon, Angela, and Jill spot what they believe is a seaplane scouting the area for survivors. The weather is cloudy that day but seems stable, and the plane is in fact looking for survivors. But to the trio’s dismay and shock, the plane is struck by a lightning bolt and explodes. Brandon and Angela discuss on the shore at night that they don’t know if they are getting off the island alive but that they are glad they weren’t stuck on it alone.

Tony has his night on the town and manages to make a scene. At a Los Angeles city precinct, a detective finds out from NSA documents exactly where Tony is living and sets up a sting operation. A SWAT team breaks into Tony’s home and finally takes him in. On the island, Brandon tells Angela and Jill that they need to bring Ed back. They create a plan to draw Ed out so they can try to bring him back to sanity. Knowing Ed had set up booby traps around his “lair,” Brandon shows Angela where to find them so she can dismantle them. They draw Ed out while Jill sneaks into a position behind him so she can hit him over the head with a rock. They carry Ed to the tent and tie him to a tree so he can calm himself down. That night, Ed pleads with the group to let him free but Brandon refuses (telling Angela that he will let him free in the morning).

In the morning, Brandon unties Ed and they literally hug and make up. Soon after, a military vessel shoots flares in the distance. The group immediately runs to the shore and sees a military raft heading their way. Brandon looks closely and realizes that the raft isn’t American, but actually Cuban. The Cubans, who had already been talking to American officials, take the group to Miami to be dropped off. That night on the ship, Ed and Jill are accompanied by sailors, while Brandon and Angela get together. Brandon, Ed, Angela, and Jill finally get to Miami, where they are bombarded by news reporters. They look at each other not knowing exactly how to simply sum up what they experienced.

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