The Social Reckoning

When "The Social Network" was released back in 2010, the social media, especially Facebook was a relatively new concept, and being told how Facebook came about and what involved that, it made for an interesting film. But now we have "The Social Reckoning" as a follow up of how Facebook got totally out of hand. Why can't people take something that is helpful and not bastardize it?

A companion piece to the hit film, "The Social Network", Aaron Sorkin's original screenplay tells the true story of how Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison), a young Facebook engineer, enlists the help of Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) a Wall Street Journal reporter, to go on a dangerous journey that ends up blowing the whistle on the social network's most guarded secrets involving algorithms, greed, manipulation and plotting to divide society against itself.

Others to round out the cast are Betty Gilpin as Christina, Billy Magnussen as Teddy Marks, Bill Burr as Charlie Garrigan, Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg, Wunmi Mosaku as Raya, Gbenga Akinnagbe as Andy Butler, Anna Lambe as Morgan, Nelson Franklin as Tom and Aidan Laprete as Zach.

This was directed with tenseness and grit by Aaron Sorkin ("Molly's Game" '17, "The Trial of the Chicago 7" '20, "Being the Ricardos" '21). This filmmaker usually gives a clarity and conciseness to his direction and this film is no exception. White gives this tense, but underlying tenacity to his role, and this is fine directing. It was also well penned by writer Aaron Sorkin ("A Few Good Men" '92, "Malice" '93, "The American President" '95, "Charlie Wilson's War" '07, "The Social Network" '10, "Moneyball" '11, "Steve Jobs" '15, "Molly's Game" '17, "The Trial of the Chicago 7" '20, "Being the Ricardos" '21) plus TV, including "West Wing". Even though Sorkin excels when the subject of which he writes is politics, however, as his resume indicates, he is quite adept at just about any subject. Certainly writing is his love and his ability is undeniable--"A Few Good Men" was also based on his play, he gradually approached the directing realm in 2017 with "Molly's Game". "The Social Reckoning" was concise and powerful, but there were a couple of very small places of choppiness which made it not flow as much as it needed. If you like his style of writing, his TV movie of "A Few Good Men" is in the works, however the production is unknown at this time. 

The best aspect of this film was to uncover the secrets and manipulations of the big corporate world--this following the goings on with Facebook. Sorkin is a talented writer and his ability to direct only improves with each film he directs. Certainly if you liked "The Social Network", you'll like this follow up. It really makes us wonder what really goes on with these companies.

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                       Rated: R                                        112mins.