The Social Reckoning review

I loved the original Social Network movie way back in 2010. At the time it not only introduced me to Jesse Eisenberg but it also put writer Aaron Sorkin on my radar and ever since I've loved his work. It's now 2026 and Aaron Sorkin is now not only in the writing role but also is now director in a movie that is nowhere near as good as it's 2010 counterpart. Mikey Madison fresh off her Best Actress Oscar win for Anora plays real life whistleblower Francis Haugen who along with Jeremy Allen White's Wall Street Journal journalist Jeff Horwitz expose Facebook's most guarded secrets. 

Right off the bat it's clear that this movie is vastly different than the movie from 2010 which David Fincher directed. It's a lot less suave and doesn't really have any sort of fancy camera shots and tricks. In a way it's very one note in a sense and that's sort of what Mark Zuckerberg is portrayed as here as Jeremy Strong plays a much older version of the Facebook now Meta CEO and leader. His performance comes off as very bland, very one note and almost like a cheap imitation. At not point did he feel like he was making the part his own rather he was like a stand-in in a documentary. 

The Social Reckoning isn't a bad movie by any means, it's acted well with Mikey Madison especially good here and the bond she has with Allen's journalist is rather sweet if a bit underbaked. Strong's Zuckerberg portrayal pales in comparison to Eisenberg's take but given it's two vastly different eras of his life it sort of makes sense. With all that being said The Social Reckoning is a solid but it isn't going to revolutionise the medium in any way but it is still fascinting at it's core.

★★★