An engrossing ‘Social Reckoning’ proves to be memorable | Review

0At this moment in time, no movie could be more appropriately titled than “The Social Reckoning,” which is about a Facebook whistleblower and the reporter who helps tell her story of the social media platform's assorted audience manipulations.

In August, the Mark Zuckerberg-led company settled a lawsuit that paid 47 states a combined $17.1 billion for practices that settled youth social media addiction and privacy allegations.

It’s due to the work of the protagonists – Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) and Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison) that this settlement came to be.

Director Aaron Sorkin, who won an Oscar for writing “The Social Network,” his first foray into the world of Facebook back in 2010, revisits the familiar topic of the popular social media network, but with plenty of evidence to make a statement film about it.

Whereas “Network” was about the creation of the service with all of the requisite crosses and double crosses of those involved, including, principally, Mark Zuckerberg (Jeremy Strong here, but Jesse Eisenberg in that film), this one explores what Facebook and social media in general have wrought on society.

Told from the perspective of whistleblower Haugen, an engineer who once believed in Facebook’s mission of connecting the world, particularly for awkward, introverted people like herself, the story follows her as she begins to question that belief.

When a friend of hers goes from progressive champion to conservative firebrand, she soon realizes that Facebook has had a deleterious effect on her and, perhaps, others, a fact that keeps her sleepless.

Despite warnings from company managers about the mainstream media sniffing around for stories, her friend’s sudden change makes her question what she’s part of and she contacts Horwitz, who writes for the Wall Street Journal, in what is supposed to be a one-off exchange of information.

She gives him just enough to get a story started and gradually, as she comes to learn the extent of Facebook leadership’s ethical transgressions, she begins to trust Horwitz before understanding that in order to cause change, it might be necessary to endure some personal pain and inflict some on her employer.

That could be a movie unto itself. After all, there’s nothing quite like a good story where a reporter’s going through their process. However, there’s more to deal with here — Zuckerberg.

Rarely does a director or writer get to delve deeply into the psyche of a character they’ve explored in a prior film more than 15 years after the fact. In “Reckoning,” the audience sees the present result of all of the arrogance, back stabbing and other moral failings of Zuckerberg from “Network.”

It’s not a pretty portrait Sorkin paints as he takes us from the start of Haugen’s epiphany several years in the past to Zuckerberg rehearsing his planned Congressional testimony at the beginning of 2021. He’s an image of how power and the wealth that comes with it corrupts over time.

Due to acquisitions of other companies and their apps – Instagram, for instance – his reach is vast and he possesses the power to serve as a gatekeeper of sorts, but Zuckerberg, a “free-speech absolutist,” would prefer to ignore the harm that his assorted apps cause – causation that he and his executives are acutely aware and knowingly amplify. It’s a matter of user engagement equals profits.

Sorkin takes the opportunity in this film to delve into the issue of free speech and knowing that hate speech increased does more harm than good. It certainly helps that the debate ultimately plays out on Jan. 6, 2021, as Zuckerberg and his minions are faced with the choice to silence President Donald Trump’s microphone as rioters invaded the Capitol.

The jump in timelines can be occasionally confusing, but they don’t diminish the narrative and his arguments. He crafts a script with his trademark witty banter, albeit somewhat restrained by the subject matter.

He also assembled a strong cast in White, who is confident, strong and curious as Horwitz. Although he cut his chops in television, it’s clear that White belongs on the big screen and possesses the ability to carve out a career that could equal greats such as Paul Newman and Dustin Hoffman.

Madison proves that her Oscar win from a couple of years ago for “Anora” was no fluke as she goes from alluring, confident sex worker to an idealistic nerd with issues.

As for Strong, he’s intense, yet measured as Zuckerberg getting his clipped speech pattern down perfectly while also basking a pool of amorality.

Sorkin brings all of those elements to craft a thought provoking and entertaining film that may be just a bit optimistic.

There’s a moment when one of the tech-bro, executive lackeys who works for Zuckerberg smugly and arrogantly states that Facebook is “post-government,” suggesting they are immune to regulation and oversight. “The Social Reckoning” convincingly posits that may not be the case.

George M. Thomas covers a myriad of things including sports and pop culture, but mostly sports, he thinks, for the Beacon Journal.

Cast: Jeremy Allen White, Mikey Madison, Jeremy Strong, Bill Burr

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: An engrossing 'Social Reckoning' proves to be memorable | Review