South MS plays starring role in Netflix documentary drawing viewers worldwide
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Netflix’s 'Untold: Fall of Favre' hit No. 1 in the U.S. with 6.8M global views.
- The documentary traces Favre’s career and revisits long-covered scandals.
- Scenes from South Mississippi give local context and visual background to Favre's story.
One of the biggest hits on Netflix is heavy on South Mississippi and heavier on native son Brett Favre.
From the production of TIME Studios and reporting of Front Office Sports, “Untold: Fall of Favre” released exclusively on Netflix in May and has been tracking as one of the biggest hits on the platform since its release.
The documentary follows the career path of the Hancock County native from high school to Southern Miss and beyond, while also delving into the context of another career path that would cross with Favre and lead him to his first major scandal in the twilight days of his NFL life.
It then dives into his still-ongoing legal battle stemming from the 2020 uncovering of his alleged involvement in a Mississippi welfare scandal.
Here are some of the most interesting things from the scathing review of Favre’s life.
How many people have seen it?
Fall of Favre was the top movie on Netflix the first week it was released. Not only has it drawn significant interest in the United States, but globally, as well. It was the No. 2 movie in Iceland upon release.
By May 27, it had racked up 6.8 million views around the world, according to producer AJ Perez. That’s good for fourth most popular item on Netflix and No. 1 stateside.
It’s also the top movie in Canada and top 10 in 19 different countries.
For those untethered to Favre’s mythos, the film offers South Mississippians brief glimpses of home broadcast to an international audience.
How much is really “Untold?”
The documentary is described by Netflix as an “eye-opening” look at Favre’s career and scandals.
Even if one has followed Favre’s life only peripherally, there’s not much the film has to offer that is truly groundbreaking in reporting. The key topics are the well-covered texting incident involving a New York Jets staffer and the extensively reported $94 million dollar welfare scandal in his home state.
It largely serves as an aggregation of commentary from those who were around him often early in his career and from those, like former NFL quarterback Michael Vick, who provide context to the life of a star quarterback and how they are perceived.
State government officials and agency employees are also interviewed and featured, but again, largely for commentary.
The most revealing aspect of Favre’s story line comes from Jenn Sterger, the Jets sideline reporter who allegedly received lewd texts from Favre. Though the information provided isn’t exactly new, highlighting her does bring back to the forefront that the incident was revealed without her consent and that her editor paid a third party to hack her correspondence.
But it’s only those smaller pieces to the story brought back to the surface that feels “untold,” though truly just forgotten.
South Mississippi gets a spotlight
The life of Favre can’t be told without Mississippi, specifically the Coast.
Shots of The Kiln serve as B-roll throughout the film. His statue at Hancock High School is featured several times. Favre served as an offensive coordinator for Oak Grove in 2013 and there’s a brief shot of him on the sideline during a game at Biloxi High School.
The famous Broke Spoke biker bar in Kiln is featured a number of times, as well.
Shots of Favre playing for Hancock North Central High School are included and the scoreboard at Hancock Stadium, bearing the name Brett Favre Field, is seen.
If you watch closely, you might even see someone you recognize. In one clip of Favre at Hancock High School, school athletic director Jamie Sisco can be seen behind him.
Reviews of the doc are split
Sterger notes near the end of the documentary that there will be viewers of the film “who will still deny” that Favre ever did anything wrong.
That would ring true, as seen in IMDB reviews. While some agreed with the documentary’s portrayal, others were dismayed.
In one review titled “Fall of facts,” the reviewer brushes Favre off as a womanizer and casts equal blame on Sterger for selling the story for money. This despite the fact the documentary features Sterger’s editor openly admitting he took her story without her consent and paid her nothing for it.
Another review claims the documentary is too one-sided. Favre declined an interview for the piece — which does include his own defense and his lawyer’s statements at numerous points.
Some reviews were harsh due to the doc not doing enough delving into the scandals and instead glossing over the finer points. Medium calls it “Another terrible outing from Netflix” and writes that it was too harsh on Favre, but also not harsh enough.
The documentary of Favre’s rise to fame and fall from grace is available on Netflix.
This story was originally published May 29, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
