Erin Lee Carr revisits The Swan, the 2000s makeover contest, in new Hulu film

Hulu releases The Swan: Behind the Mirror on 29 September, a new documentary from director Erin Lee Carr.

The film revisits producer Nely Galan’s 2004 Fox reality-competition series The Swan, according to Variety. That earlier programme followed 16 women through plastic surgery, dentistry, training and dieting. The women then competed in a beauty pageant to be crowned The Swan.

Carr, 38, is the daughter of late New York Times columnist David Carr. She has built a long list of true-crime and pop-culture credits.

Her directing work includes the Netflix documentary Britney vs Spears, The Ringleader: The Case of the Bling Ring and Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara. She also directed the documentary series — a factual story told across episodes — I Am Not a Monster: The Lois Riess Murders.

Her earlier film was 2015’s Thought Crimes: The Case of the Cannibal Cop, about Gilberto Valle. Journalist Jenny Eliscu collaborated with Carr on Britney vs Spears, which investigates Spears’ fight for freedom, as reported by Netflix Tudum. The documentary draws on exclusive interviews and confidential evidence.

Carr has also worked as a producer. Her producing credits include Stormy, the Peacock documentary about Stormy Daniels, plus Trophy Wife: Murder on Safari and Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini. Stormy was directed by Sarah Gibson, according to the Los Angeles Times, and tells the story from Daniels’ point of view. Carr also directed the scripted series Murdaugh: Death in the Family, meaning actors perform a written script based on a real case.

What makes this stand out is the distance. The original contest aired in 2004. This retelling arrives more than 20 years later, with the people behind it and the footage put back in one place for viewers who never saw the first broadcast.