A lot has happened since The Social Network. When David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin dramatised the rise of Facebook, they did so as a Greek tragedy that juxtaposed Mark Zuckerberg’s rise to tech-bro dominance against his personal and business relationships crumbling – a portrait of a man who was already changing the nature of friendship in the digital age. These days, the Facebook story has shifted even further, with its reshaping of everyday life – as outlined by the Wall Street Journal’s 2021 report, ‘The Facebook Files’, blowing the whistle on how the platform negatively affected mental health in users, stirred political discord, among other darker things.
And so, Sorkin has returned – as writer, and also director this time – for a “companion piece” film titled The Social Reckoning, dramatising the story behind the WSJ piece, this time starring Jeremy Strong as an older Mark Zuckerberg, Mikey Madison as whistleblower Frances Haugen, and Jeremy Allen White as reporter Jeff Horwitz. Watch the trailer here:
This looks like another potent and searing cinematic take on the Facebook story – with all the scripted intensity you’d expect from Aaron Sorkin. And he’s assembled a stellar cast for this one, also featuring hte likes of Wunmi Mosaku, Betty Gilpin, Billy Magnussen, and Bill Burr. While it’s yet to be confirmed whether Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross will return on soundtrack duties, there’s a little reprise of their legendary Social Network score in the final stretch of the trailer here.
It remains to be seen whether The Social Reckoning will be just as vital a piece of cinema as its predecessor – we’ll give it a ‘like’ (or a heart, or a thumbs-down) when it his cinemas on October 9.
