#REVIEW: “THE SOCIAL RECKONING”
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
Aaron Sorkin’s back in his traditional procedural form with this companion sequel to The Social Network.
Unlike its predecessor, this time around Sorkin doesn’t follow Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (Jeremy Strong). His focus is on Facebook engineer Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison) who enlisted the help of Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White), a Wall Street Journal reporter, to blow the whistle on the social networks most guarded secrets in the investigative series, The Facebook Files.
The Social Reckoning spans the two years it took for Haugen and Horwitz to gather the proof needed to expose the algorithms that allow Facebook to steal hours of its users time, along with Zuckerberg’s unrelenting belief in his platform allowing freedom of speech. As with any Sorkin ascript, he’s managed to fit a lot of information in a swift runtime. We follow Haugen as she attempts to make her fears known at the company, to her working with Horwitz, then to her finally exposing her identity in order to testify at congress. It’s all very straight by the book, yet Sorkin has a way of making the procedural entertaining.
It’s clear that The Social Reckoning wants to document a piece of history; and it does it expertly. However, this important moment was all over our screens only five years ago. The Facebook Files was published in September of 2021 and Haugen was on 60 Minutes in October of the same year. It feels a little too soon to document a story that majority of audiences saw or read in recent news coverage. Although, audiences that seek out The Social Reckoning with no knowledge of what Haugen accomplished will be enthralled.
We are most familiar with seeing Madison in firecracker performances such as a Manson girl in Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood, or a Ghostface killer in Scream and of course as our favourite feisty Brooklyn exotic dancer in Anora. Here, she gets to show her range. She gives a nuanced, subtle performance that’s filled with quick wit. Allen White is great as Horwitz, he perfectly balances the desire to expose the networks secrets with the trepidation to protect Haugen and his own name. Strong doesn’t get much screen time here, as the Film doesn’t focus on Zuckerberg. This is a shame because the handful of times Strong appears on screen are captivating.
Overall, Sorkin delivers yet another entertaining procedural drama with The Social Reckoning. It boasts powerful performance and documents an important part of our recent history. The most unnerving part of the Film that how unsurprising each revelation about the network feels. In today’s world, we expect this from the 1%.
Sony Pictures Canada release THE SOCIAL RECKONING on Friday, October 9, 2026.