The Social Reckoning
The Social Reckoning is Aaron Sorkin at his most unfiltered. He wrote 2010’s The Social Network, about Mark Zuckerberg and the creation of Facebook. Directed by David Fincher and featuring a fantastic lead performance from Jesse Eisenberg, it is a riveting account of how the social media site became a fixture in our everyday lives. It was nominated for eight Oscars, with Sorkin winning Best Adapted Screenplay. The Social Reckoning (106 minutes, without the end credits), which Sorkin also directed, is not a sequel, per se. It has a whole new cast, mostly focuses on different characters and touches on very different themes.
It is about the investigation by a reporter and a whistleblower into changes in Facebook’s algorithms. Specifically, it is concerned with decisions Mark Zuckerberg made that, it is argued, shows he was knowingly making it easier for hate groups to recruit his users. It is an intriguing topic, intended to expose how platforms like this have amplified hate speech, misinformation and division.
As expected from that description, it is a very dialogue-heavy movie. Sorkin excels at making conversations exciting. His characters are intelligent, witty and seem like they have agency as opposed to feeling like pawns of an overwritten plot. The dialogue is sharp and compelling. The performances, especially those by Mikey Madison and Jeremy Allen White, are great.
Where it struggles is in making its points not feel forced or biased. It takes things that have been discussed repeatedly over the last decade and reduces them to headlines. Society is suffering and companies like Facebook (now Meta) are fanning the flames. That is the message this has to offer. A message most people already seem to believe.
It pays lip service to arguments for free speech, having Mark Zuckerberg use it as a defense only in situations where the alternative could cost him money. A writer does not need to champion other viewpoints while displaying theirs. However, Reckoning barely acknowledges them, creating something one-sided and frustrating, though still well-made and entertaining. It is a weird sensation to enjoy a movie, then walk out wondering what the point of it was.
Investigative journalist Jeff Horwitz is hired by the Wall Street Journal to investigate Facebook. Frances Haugen is a data engineer for Facebook who begins to worry about how changes her bosses have made are negatively affecting their users. When no one at work will listen to her, Frances enlists Jeff’s help in an effort to inspire change at the company she loves.
The Social Reckoning thrives when it allows Mikey Madison, as Frances, and Jeremy Allen White, as Jeff, to bounce off of each other. There is so much energy in their performances as they banter, strategize and figure out where the story is. We don’t learn a lot about Frances and Jeff, beyond what they are. Yet the actors do an excellent job of bringing them to life.
Jeremy Strong, as an increasingly agitated Mark Zuckerberg, brings surprising nuance to a role that leans too much into caricature. Eisenberg was able to show us a complicated man. Strong is merely animating a concept. While he is good, the portrayal of Zuckerberg here points to the bigger issues in Sorkin’s screenplay.
This is a case where pacing and performance overcome the one-dimensionality of the script. The strengths are just a little bit more powerful than the weaknesses. I suppose I can classify it as a good movie whose negatives are far too obvious as it unfolds. It doesn’t contribute to the political discourse so much as speak its narrow viewpoint loudly. Come to think of it, that is exactly what people use social media for.
3¼ out of 5
Cast:
Mikey Madison as Frances Haugen
Jeremy Allen White as Jeff Horwitz
Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg
Billy Magnussen as Teddy Marks
Bill Burr as Charlie Garrigan
Betty Gilpin as Christina
Written/directed by Aaron Sorkin
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