Many regard The Social Network as one of the best films of the 21st century. The story of Facebook’s creation is respected for its performances, Aaron Sorkin’s first-rate script, and David Fincher’s cinematic direction. Now, 16 years later, Sorkin returns to Facebook and takes the reins as director, with a film that might not have the first’s cinematic appeal, but it will still shake you to the core with a tale more chilling than any horror movie.
Frances Haugen works as a Facebook engineer who discovers something going awry within the company after witnessing the radicalisation of a woman she knows. Unable to dig further, she turns to Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz to dig deeper and find out why people are being drawn to groups brimming with misinformation and algorithms that could change the face of democracy.
Based on the true investigation known as the Facebook Files, Sorkin uses his skills as a writer to dig into a story we may know, but not to the extent of how far the company will go to make money and manipulate its users’ lives. This film doesn’t celebrate the social network company; it shows how much power Mark Zuckerberg has and how little they seem to care about how it affects people’s decision-making in real life.
As a writer, Sorkin is second to none. He isn’t afraid to use technobabble and complex explanations to explore the situation. Thankfully, he has a character in Horwitz to help the audience understand the issues Haugen throws at the reporter. He also uses different timelines to show the difference between the investigative journalism and Zuckerberg’s seeming lack of empathy, as we watch the man being primed for a meeting with the Senate, where every detail of what he says is scrutinised as he seems to lack any form of empathy, coming across almost like an emotionless robot.
As a director, Sorkin plays it safe. He lacks the visual flair Fincher brought to the original film, and some decisions are questionable, such as having Haugen dress provocatively when she visits Horwitz in his hotel room as a cover so she cannot be seen as the whistleblower. It has the look of a TV movie, which happens to fit Sorkin’s unfussy directorial style. He has far more confidence in his script, and it shows, dripping information in every scene that makes your skin crawl.
The final act focuses on the events of 6th January and the insurrection that shook the world. We see the heads of Facebook watch in horror as events unfold, and all of a sudden, this idea that people can be radicalised by using a social media platform becomes so incredibly real. You leave the cinema with a completely different outlook on the platform, and, in fact, on any platform that can manipulate its users, often without them realising it.
If the script does the heavy lifting, then the performances help. Oscar-winner Mikey Madison, who was so good in Anora, delivers a much more controlled, distant performance as Frances, a loner who cannot understand why the company she loves is doing what it’s doing. It makes us realise Madison isn’t a one-trick pony, and she is an exciting new voice on screen. The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White, who looks more like Dustin Hoffman in All the President’s Men, is excellent as Jeff, a writer from the old days of print journalism who struggles with modern technology but has been hired to investigate tech companies.
After deciding not to play Mark Zuckerberg, with Jesse Eisenberg saying he didn’t want to be typecast as a man he hates, Jeremy Strong, from TV’s Succession, takes on the role and is as cold and inhuman as they come. It’s a spot-on performance, especially when you see the real Zuckerberg face that Senate committee. Watching this performance, Strong would make the perfect Bond villain.
The Social Reckoning isn’t as good a film as The Social Network. Yet it is far more important. In a season brimming with horror movies, this is possibly the most terrifying of them all and will make you think exactly how to approach social media in the future.
4 out of 5
Director: Aaron Sorkin
Starring: Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong, Betty Gilpin, Bill Burr, Wunmi Mosaku, Billy Magnussen, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Nelson Franklin, Kelley Pereira, Aiden Laprete, Anna Lambe.
Written by: Aaron Sorkin
Running Time: 112 mins
Cert; 15
Release date: 9th October 2026
