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It’s been sixteen years since writer Aaron Sorkin teamed up with director David Fincher to deliver the 21st-century classic The Social Network. He’s back to take another stab at Facebook, this time without Fincher or the original film’s star, Jesse Eisenberg.
Caleb Masters reviews the follow-up film, The Social Reckoning, for The Cinematic Schematic.
Tune in, or read the written review below.
The Social Reckoning is a solid enough corporate espionage thriller. But it’s not in the same league or even the same genre as The Social Network.
It’s been described as a companion to The Social Network, which writer-director Aaron Sorkin also wrote. If that film is about how Facebook was founded, The Social Reckoning is about what it’s become.
More specifically, the film retells the story behind “The Facebook Files” published in The Wall Street Journal by investigative journalist Jeff Horwitz.
Here are three things that stuck out to me during my first viewing of The Social Reckoning.
#1. There’s Not Much New Here If You’ve Been Following Along
If you followed any of the reporting on “The Facebook Files” when the stories broke in 2021, there’s not much new or revelatory here. For me, that meant some of the reveals felt anticlimactic and like foregone conclusions.
However, I suspect most people who watch this movie don’t know this story, so hopefully it leads more people to check out reporting on this important topic.
#2. The Cast is Pretty Good
Jeremy Strong’s Mark Zuckerberg has gotten the press, but he’s really a supporting player. Mikey Madison is the real star as whistleblower Frances Haugen. The friction between her strongly held belief in Facebook’s mission to build meaningful connections and the reality that the company is hurting the public makes for a compelling journey, elevated by Madison’s energized delivery.
Jeremy Allen White also does solid work as Jeff Horwitz, though his best moments tend to be less flashy than his peers’.
#3. Aaron Sorkin’s Instincts as a Writer Continue to Be His Greatest Strengths and Weaknesses
For longtime Sorkin fans, his dialogue remains engaging and incisive. Scene by scene, I’m either mesmerized by a monologue or left cackling at a quip. But he also has his vices. In this case, the film’s ending leans too heavily into his optimism. Meta’s August 2026 settlement of up to $17 billion offers some accountability. Still, it also underscores how long it takes to confront the consequences of these decisions, and a settlement doesn’t mean the problems have been fixed. Meanwhile, the debate over voluntary AI safety commitments raises a familiar question: how much should we trust powerful tech companies to police themselves? These developments don’t erase the significance of Haugen’s actions, but they do make Sorkin’s triumphant ending ring false, feeling out of touch while the story is still being written.
And maybe most importantly, Aaron Sorkin needs to step away from the director’s seat and find a strong directing partner for his scripts. His visual style is flat, and he frequently stages scenes like a TV series or play. The biggest moments visually land with a thud. The film ends on a decidedly upbeat note when a more astute visual storyteller like David Fincher or Danny Boyle might reframe it to be more appropriately haunting.
The Social Reckoning is not an instant classic, and it will likely always live in the shadow of its predecessor. But it gets enough right, and ultimately, I think Sorkin’s doing a public service by telling this story at all.
C+
About The Social Reckoning
IMDB describes the film as:
Follows Frances Haugen, a young Facebook engineer, who enlisted the help of Jeff Horwitz, a Wall Street Journal reporter, to blow the whistle on the social network’s most guarded secrets.
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