Jeremy Strong's method acting makes The Social Reckoning watchable, even as the film struggles to justify its existence as a sequel to The Social Network. Labelled a 'companion piece' due to its new cast and a new Mark Zuckerberg, the movie covers familiar ground—Facebook whistleblowers have already made headlines—but packs a punch thanks to cinema's power, a buzzy cast, and Aaron Sorkin's polished script.
Strong's Zuckerberg Steals the Show
Strong delivers another scene-stealing turn, bringing eerie intimidation to the founder with impatient hyperfocus. He hacks away at an underling's presentation, too busy for manners, yet keeps the recognisably unforgiving Caesar hairstyle from the period. The performance leans towards caricature but is effective, with pitch-perfect voice and a fabulously awkward yet spiky aura. Strong even elicits sympathy when confronted with the consequences of Facebook's decision not to fact-check political ads, driven by free speech convictions.
The film, set between 2019 and 2021, introduces data scientist Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison) and Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White). Haugen, concerned about Facebook's algorithm after seeing a former acquaintance post racist abuse, finds no support at Facebook—Zuckerberg won't give up 1% of engagement to curb misinformation—so she turns to Horwitz.
Supporting Cast and Sorkin's Signature Dialogue
Madison and White give solid performances, commanding attention with a clumsy chemistry between two nerds. Betty Gilpin shines as Horwitz's acerbic boss, Kris. Sorkin's trademark sharp dialogue includes the damning line from an employee: 'we're post-government around here'. However, the script has traditional Sorkin downfalls—people aren't usually that erudite—and one of Madison's monologues feels too performed. Horwitz's 'quirky' enjoyment of Showboat is a throwback to The West Wing's Gilbert and Sullivan episode, and there's a bit of Sorkin schmaltz at the end.
The supporting cast includes Wunmi Mosaku as crisis expert Raya and Bill Burr as Charlie, based on Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, who returns to challenge Zuckerberg's unchecked power. By this time, the site has 2.8 billion monthly users and is valued at $1 trillion, with Haugen's leak of thousands of documents about to cause a major headache.
A Safe Direction but a Watchable Film
Sorkin, sadly, is no David Fincher as a director. The film is safely presented and pedestrian, whereas Fincher's fastidiousness produced a visually bold film in The Social Network that complemented the script. Fincher elevated Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, and Rooney Mara, and might have finetuned White and Madison more—but Strong was fine doing his own thing.
The Social Reckoning isn't urgent viewing, but it's a perfectly okay film with perfectly okay performances, boosted by some of Sorkin's better lines. Strong walks away with the movie—see it for him if nothing else. The film is in cinemas from Friday.
