The Social Reckoning: A good movie but is inferior to its predecessor
In 2010, legendary director David Fincher created a biopic based on the launch of Facebook and the rise of CEO Mark Zuckerberg titled “The Social Network”. The film was a success, winning three Academy Awards and has now become one of the greatest films of the 21st century. The follow-up film, “The Social Reckoning,” has an impressive concept, but a creative shake-up makes it feel like a different film. Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin took over as director, and while his dialogue is great, his direction doesn’t match the film's intended style. The film is also set during the 2021 Facebook leaks, when the website's algorithm sent users to pages seen as bad influences, which, after the January 6th riots, led them to take action while also being hit with a huge lawsuit. The film does a great job of showing the dangers of social media, but at times the play itself feels toos too safe with the subject matter. Jeremy Strong plays Mark Zuckerberg. Unfortunately, his performance feels like an impression of Jesse Eisenberg’s Oscar-nominated performance in the original film, to the point that I wonder why they didn’t just bring Eisenberg back to the role. Mikey Madison and Jeremy Allen White deliver excellent performances as whistleblower Frances Haugen and Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz, respectively. “The Social Reckoning” might not be as good as the original. However, it still does its job as an interesting movie thanks to its take on social media's dark side and the strong performances from Mikey Madison and Jeremy Allen White.
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