It's pretty widely accepted that The Social Network was robbed of the Oscar for Best Picture. Ever since it lost to The King's Speech, its reputation has only increased. It's rightly viewed as a prescient, cutting piece of recent history about arguably the single most important figure of the 21st Century thus far. It was the perfect blend of David Fincher's harsh view of humanity, and Aaron Sorkin's verbose writing. Oh, and it's also got one of the best film scores of all time. So a sequel – regardless of how much material and relevance there is – would have a lot to live up to.
So does The Social Reckoning, which brings back only Sorkin and DP Jeff Cronenweth, live up to its predecessor? Absolutely not! But taken on its own terms, it's an entertaining and occasionally powerful film with a trio of great performances.
Taking its inspiration from The Wall Street Journal's Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Facebook Files", the film is far less interested in Mark Zuckerberg, this time played by Jeremy Strong. Sorkin instead frames this sequel in a way that lets him rely on his strengths.
Mikey Madison, in her first role since winning the Oscar for Anora, plays whistleblower Frances Hageun. She's a true believer in Facebook's mission to connect people. But her concerns over its algorithm's ability to radicalize users falls on deaf ears, so she turns to reporter Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White). This means the bulk of the film is about "getting the story," the backbone of many episodes of Sports Night and The Newsroom. If you were a fan of the latter especially, this movie will be catnip for you. (By the same token, if that show caused you to cringe, you'll probably find this movie insufferable.)
As a writer, Sorkin is as sharp as ever. But sometimes he can't help himself. He's still shoehorning in references to old musicals and undercutting his Strong Female Leads with a man who's just a little bit smarter. As a filmmaker, he hasn't exactly improved in his fourth feature. He simply doesn't know how to do crowd shots. But he excels at making rooms feel claustrophobic. And he does get terrific performances out of the rest of his cast too, including Patrick Fischler, Bill Burr, and Wunmi Mosaku.
Once you accept that The Social Reckoning isn't in the same league as The Social Network, you'll be treated to an intense drama about the even darker side of social media. But that's only if you're still a fan of Aaron Sorkin. If his style and annoying tendencies rub you the wrong way, you might be better off scrolling.
