The Social Reckoning review: Pales in comparison to predecessor
After winning an Oscar for his screenplay for 2010’s The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin takes on double duty as the writer and director of the long-awaited follow-up, The Social Reckoning.
Set in 2019, the drama tells the story of Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison), a data scientist at Facebook who leaks documents to Wall Street Journal investigative journalist Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) that illustrate the platform’s detrimental effects on people’s wellbeing, society and democracy. In a separate timeline in January 2021, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (Jeremy Strong, replacing Jesse Eisenberg) rehearses for congressional hearings and is coached on what to say by his crisis-management specialist, Raya (Wunmi Mosaku), and former investor-turned-critic Charlie (Bill Burr).
David Fincher‘s The Social Network is one of the greatest movies of the past 20 years, so The Social Reckoning was always going to have an uphill battle on the comparison front. While Sorkin’s screenplay is great (but not as perfect as TSN), this sequel proves that he’s not on Fincher’s level as a director. It lacks Fincher’s dynamic editing and propulsive momentum and doesn’t make the most of its big moments, giving them insufficient tension.
Trying to cover a meaty subject like Facebook’s effects on society is ambitious. It would take many hours to dig into it properly, so Sorkin goes for the key points. He has a lot of ground to cover and two timelines to traverse, so he has to move quickly and unfortunately doesn’t have time to get into the minds of our three main characters. He seems more concerned with the plot and the key takeaways of the articles than our main players. That being said, I found the subject matter fascinating and I always have time for an investigative journalism movie, so I still dug the story. I actually felt like it needed more time to breathe and was left wanting more at the end.
While Zuckerberg was the main character of TSN, he only has a small role on a separate timeline from the main story, which is an odd choice. Although Strong had Zuckerberg’s voice, he didn’t look much like him, and the character felt similar to Kendall Roy (albeit with a new haircut).
Madison doesn’t look remotely like Haugen – they’re not even close in age – but she’s not famous, so that doesn’t matter too much. Madison and White are good – but nothing exceptional – and there are some standout supporting turns from Burr as a thorn in Zuckerberg’s side, and Mosaku as a smart, in-control crisis PR. Plus, I’ve always got time for Betty Gilpin!
Despite its flaws, The Social Reckoning is still a solid movie. I learned a lot and it made me mad about the state of the world. I just wish it was great!
In cinemas from Friday 9th October