Starring: Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White and Jeremy Strong
Directed by: Alan Sorkin
Rated: R
Running Time: 112 minutes
Sony Pictures Releasing
Our Score: 3 out of 5 Stars
It’s hard not to think about how far things have come since “The Social Network,” especially after watching its sequel, “The Social Reckoning.” In David Fincher’s 2010 film, we watched the minds behind digital connections create their own spheres of loneliness as they betrayed friends, sued for ownership and demonstrated that success could come at almost any cost. 16 years later, the consequences of Mark Zuckerberg’s ambition are everybody else’s problem.
Of course, “The Social Network” now feels something like a villain origin story. Zuckerberg has become a household name synonymous with the kind of tech-bro arrogance that makes the average person recoil in disgust. Too bad those same people keep using his products, my disgusted self included. That’s why “The Social Reckoning” feels both relevant and strangely behind the times.
In 2019, Facebook data scientist Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison) has uncovered troubling information about the company’s algorithms, but nobody seems particularly interested in listening. When Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) reaches out while investigating Facebook’s political influence, Haugen sees an opportunity to expose how the platform amplifies misinformation, outrage and political extremism.
For audiences unfamiliar with the Wall Street Journal’s Facebook Files, much of this could be eye-opening. Facebook doesn’t need to explicitly program its algorithms to radicalize people. It only needs to reward engagement, even when outrage and misinformation are what keep people glued to their screens. As the film explores, those consequences extend far beyond angry comment sections, particularly in the information environment surrounding January 6. Unfortunately, the film rarely feels as urgent as its subject matter.
Aaron Sorkin, who wrote “The Social Network” but takes over directing duties from Fincher, remains a talented screenwriter. His dialogue generally works. His characters have distinct motivations and he understands how to make complicated institutional conflicts entertaining. But Fincher made conversations about computer programming and corporate ownership feel like a psychological thriller. Sorkin shoots “The Social Reckoning” like an HBO television movie, with conventional staging, predictable dramatic beats and little visual imagination. Movies challenging billionaire ethics shouldn’t feel like a PG-rated version of “Veep.”
Thankfully, the cast does plenty to keep things entertaining. Madison and White have terrific chemistry as two people trying to reach the same conclusion from opposite directions. Haugen believes institutions can recognize their failures and improve, while Horwitz believes exposing those failures is how you force change. Their differing perspectives make for some of the film’s best exchanges, particularly when Haugen ridicules Horwitz for being technologically inept.
Then there’s Jeremy Strong, who, between “Succession,” “The Apprentice” and now “The Social Reckoning,” might be Hollywood’s go-to actor for entitled asshats with more money than self-awareness. And he’s damn good at it. Strong captures Zuckerberg’s peculiar combination of arrogance, social awkwardness and emotional detachment. Some of the film’s best humor comes from watching a man with extraordinary influence over human communication struggle to communicate like an ordinary human being.
But for a movie with “Reckoning” in its title, the whole thing feels strangely safe. Haugen and Horwitz’s work helped expose serious problems within Facebook and demonstrated that individuals can still challenge powerful institutions. Their accomplishments deserve recognition, and perhaps that’s Sorkin’s intended message: the levers of justice still work, and coming forward with the truth still matters. But exposing wrongdoing isn’t the same as correcting it.
Since the events depicted in “The Social Reckoning,” Zuckerberg has remained a powerful figure in Washington, and the conversation surrounding Meta has shifted toward AI. The same industry that struggled to control misinformation amplified by algorithms is now developing technology capable of manufacturing that misinformation at an unprecedented scale. Haugen and Horwitz won a battle. The war never ended. And maybe that’s why “The Social Reckoning” left me feeling strangely unsatisfied. I enjoyed the performances, appreciated the writing and was entertained for a couple of hours. But it’s also the kind of movie you stumble upon while mindlessly scrolling through a streaming service, watch, enjoy and promptly move on from.
There’s something deeply ironic about a movie examining the dangers of passive consumption becoming such an easy piece of passive consumption itself. “The Social Reckoning” reminds us that the truth can still come out and the levers of justice can still move. I just wish it had been more interested in what happens when those levers move and the machinery keeps running.