Aaron Sorkin’s “The Social Reckoning” is a farrago of nerds
Mikey Madison, Jeremy Strong and Jeremy Allen White in Aaron Sorkin’s semi-sequel “The Social Reckoning.”
The Social Reckoning
Starring Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong, Bill Burr, Wunmi Mosaku, Betty Gilpin, Billy Magnussen and Anna Lambe. Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin. Opens Friday in theatres everywhere. 113 minutes. PG
⭐️ ⭐️ (out of 4)
Peter Howell
Movie Critic
“The Social Reckoning” scrolls across the screen like a Facebook feed, with all the venom, toxicity and occasional flash of truth that implies.
Aaron Sorkin’s semi-sequel to “The Social Network,” arriving 16 years later but feeling more like 50, performs a worthy public service by showing how social media “friends” became attention-seeking algorithm addicts, controlled by the ruthless priorities of tech lords. But the film rarely gets beyond that diagnosis.
The acting is fine but the drama feels forced and the dialogue is geekish to a fault, despite being based on real characters and incidents. I wish Sorkin had found a funny way to talk about “meaningful social interactions,” MSI for short, Facebook-speak for engagement metrics it seeks to monetize.
Sorkin's screenplay lacks the snap of his Oscar-winning work on “The Social Network,” and the claustrophobic settings in offices and at a congressional hearing similarly do this film no favours. It was a mistake for Sorkin to also take on directing duties; he needs the discipline and cinematic flair David Fincher brought to “The Social Network.”
Mikey Madison, in her first major role since her Oscar-winning turn in “Anora,” plays whistleblower Frances, a shy data engineer who believes in the connective potential of Facebook but who is appalled by what it has become. (A prologue illustrates her concern: a woman driver provokes an altercation with Black police officers that she live-streams to get racist clicks from white supremacists whom Facebook led her to.)
Frances is contacted by Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White), a Wall Street Journal investigative reporter who knows zilch about the digital realm but who recognizes a good story when he sees one. Jeff is a fan of movie musicals and the films of Frank Capra, but if you think this signals possible romance with Frances, think again. These two are very serious cookies.
The third major player in this farrago of nerds is robotic Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Jeremy Strong plays him — Jesse Eisenberg didn’t want to reprise his role from “The Social Network — with a keen sense of an amoral man who cares only about engagement and profits. He shrugs off social responsibility, referring to Facebook as “a cork board — we don’t control what people pin to it.”
As Zuckerberg prepares to testify before Congress during a time of increasing scrutiny of the dangers of social media, he brings to mind Dylan’s deal-making mystery tramp, the one who prompts you to “stare into the vacuum of his eyes.”
"The Social Reckoning” shows us what went wrong with social media in general and Facebook in particular. What it doesn’t provide is closure: the real-life situation is getting worse and the bad guys are getting bolder. Perhaps a future third film will make this a trilogy with a genuinely happy ending.
