Like the great performances, but don’t share the narrative.
“The Social Network” made my best of the past decade list and one of the best of the century in my heart, because of its riveting depiction of the creation of Facebook and the legal rights that emerged within. The direction by David Fincher, the performances (Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake, and Andrew Garfield, etc.), and the scope is fascinating without comparison.
Now, 16 years later, we have the sequel “The Social Reckoning,” which isn’t directed by David Fincher and doesn’t star any of the original stars. Instead, it’s written and directed Aaron Sorkin, its cast includes Jeremy Allen White, Mikey Madison, and Jeremy Strong as Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, and it dramatizes the 2021 Facebook leak by whistleblower Frances Haugen. But I think we can agree that as good of cast it has and as important as a topic it speaks out on, this sequel lacks the dangers and consistency of the 2010 film.
This sequel acknowledges that social media-not just Facebook, but also Instagram or Tik Tok (or whatever social media platform people are using these days)-can have a negative affect on teenagers, when it comes to bullying, violence, and behaviors. And there are people who target them as extremists. But it doesn’t delve into the subject matter as much as it should.
As the movie begins in 2019, a drunk white woman is waiting a tow truck on the highway next to her car. Then, a black cop and a Hispanic cop pull over to check on the woman, and she begins behaving oddly. The kind when she records them for her Facebook page “Voice of Reason,” and when she begins accusing them of discriminating against her and threatening them. This is when they arrest her, and this is when she becomes radicalized.
Frances (Madison) knew that person, and tries to contact somebody from Facebook about the subject matter, and this might be in the same analogy of Chicken Little trying to warn his neighbors that “The sky is falling.” She tries to talk to a speaker (Billy Magnussen) at a Q&A, but to no avail. She tries one of her co-workers, but is told to get in the dating game. Going off the record, she makes contact with the Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horowitz (White), who is not only new to the San Francisco Bay Area, but is also technically challenged. He learns to figure out some things, thanks to Frances’ meanness and determination. He can start by figuring out what MSI means. And that’s the Facebook algorithm: “Meaningful Social Interaction.”
Eventually, she would come around and go on the record to get her story out in the open. And the article Horowitz publishes is known as “The Facebook Files” or “The Facebook Papers” as other sources refer to as.
The movie jumps back and forth from 2019 to 2021, in the aftermath of the Covid-19 Pandemic, when Zuckerberg is testifying that Facebook causes no harm to users. Or “people,” as the legal council member Raya (Wunmi Mosaku) requires him to refer to them as. And on the sidelines, we also have his Facebook colleague Charlie (Bill Burr) warning him about the public backlash that could occur.
Eisenberg was the right actor to play Zuckerberg in “The Social Network,” and in “The Social Reckoning,” Strong is behind him, but his mannerisms, dialogue, and disposition would match the real co-founder’s personality. And in her first role since winning the Oscar for “Anora,” Madison delivers the kind of attitude and consistency that allows her to play Frances Haugen without trying to hard to mimic her.
The topics discussed in this companion film should be spoken with truth and courage, especially since Sorkin directed “The Trail of the Chicago 7.” That 2020 masterpiece had the character study, narrative, and consistency to represent how the group of anti-Vietnam War protestors were on trial regarding their involvement with the 1968 Democratic National Convention. “The Social Reckoning” just gives us small bits and barely examines them. When we have that intro titled “White Girl Wasted,” we might be on to something. But as the film keeps going, the characters talk the talk, and don’t really walk the walk.
“The Social Network” is an instant classic, but “The Social Reckoning” isn’t.
