When \u201cThe Social Reckoning\u201d hit box offices on Friday, it was met with undeniably high audience expectations. With advertisements labeling it as a \u201ccompanion piece\u201d to the critically acclaimed \u201cThe Social Network\u201d (2010), early criticism\u00a0for new film seemed almost inevitable. The 2010 modern classic, directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, won three Academy Awards and was widely acclaimed as one of the defining films of the decade.\u00a0Even if it\u2019s not a true sequel, \u201cThe Social Reckoning\u201d certainly follows in the shadow of its reputation.<\/p>\n
The story follows whistleblower Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison), whose realization that Facebook was misleading the public leads to the Wall Street Journal\u2019s 2021 investigative series \u201cThe Facebook Files.\u201d Haugen is a data scientist on Facebook\u2019s Civic Integrity team and a true believer in Facebook\u2019s power to connect people \u2014 until she finds out that the company is driving political extremism to boost user engagement. That\u2019s when Haugen is approached by investigative reporter Jeff Horowitz (Jeremy Allen White), who has just begun covering Facebook for The Journal.<\/p>\n
Its framing makes \u201cThe Social Reckoning\u201d a journalism-focused movie that\u2019s more akin to \u201cThe Post\u201d (2017) or \u201cSnowden\u201d (2016) than its predecessor.\u00a0Sorkin redirects our attention to Haugen\u2019s disillusionment and departure from Facebook. It\u2019s perhaps meant to mirror our own rude awakening to the issues discussed in the film \u2014 Meta\u2019s deliberate promotion of disinformation, rage bait, conspiracy and extremist groups.<\/p>\n
Except, none of this is new. A major disadvantage of \u201cThe Social Reckoning\u201d is the fact that we already know the outcome and have lived through the consequences. I won\u2019t be the first to say that the story feels outdated and limited in scope.<\/p>\n
So why does this film feel like too little too late?<\/p>\n
There are\u00a0many ways Sorkin could have reintroduced us to the subject of Facebook, and Haugen\u2019s perspective could have been a compelling way forward. The problem is that the script withholds Haugen\u2019s character\u2019s depth and personal experience as a Facebook employee. The generic picture of corporate greed and indifference shows us what we already assume the company\u2019s leadership looks like.<\/p>\n
The catalyst for Haugen\u2019s contribution to the investigation, which jeopardizes her career, is a video she finds of her friend who had been radicalized by Facebook\u2019s algorithm. She claims that she does this to help Facebook and that she still believes in its ability to connect people. But her choice to leave the company and eventually put her name on the record \u2014 which feels like a major turning point \u2014 is reduced to the idea that Facebook\u2019s leadership would find out she was the one leaking documents anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Social Network\u201d is set about 20 years before \u201cThe Social Reckoning\u201d\u00a0but stands the test of time because it is, at its core, an exploration of timeless themes of class, jealousy and betrayal. The movie suggests that Facebook\u2019s founding was Zuckerberg\u2019s window into social exclusivity, to build a social arena where he was in control. The Zuckerberg of \u201cThe Social Network\u201d was, in some ways, the portrait of an angry adolescent out for blood, armed with a punk attitude and undeniable genius.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s something reductive about the new film\u2019s overhaul of character depth that feeds into the David and Goliath of it all \u2014 public interest versus private corporation \u2014 failing to show us anything more nuanced.<\/p>\n
In the new film, Sorkin tries to prove its importance by grounding itself in the dramatization of the events surrounding the narrative, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 insurrection. Yet even with the slow-motion montage of rioters at the Capitol, the \u201cSocial Reckoning\u201d feels more biographical than dramatic, as it recounts the events of our recent memory.<\/p>\n
And, partly due to its asymmetrical storyline that cuts between 2019 and 2021, it feels more like we\u2019re waiting very patiently for Haugen to approach Horowitz with every lead. We are as frustrated as she is when she pushes him to, well, investigate them. You can feel the film\u2019s ethos reaching toward \u201cAll the President\u2019s Men\u201d (1976), widely recognized as the journalism movie of all journalism movies. But we are left grasping for the thrill and suspense of watching Woodward in the pitch-black parking lot as his source tells him to \u201cfollow the money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, \u201cThe Social Reckoning,\u201d through Madison\u2019s character, asks how we should be speaking truth to power, a question\u00a0we should be trying to answer today. The sheer relevance of \u201cThe Social Reckoning\u201d is still notable,\u00a0considering how high-profile whistleblowers from OpenAI have recently sparked conversations about the company leadership\u2019s irresponsibility in handling the development of artificial intelligence.\u00a0While this film is not the anticipated sequel to \u201cThe Social Network,\u201d Luca Guadagnino’s \u201cArtificial\u201d might be. Here\u2019s to hoping.<\/p>\n
\n Summary
\n \u201cThe Social Reckoning\u201d questions how to speak truth to power, but fails to achieve the impact of its predecessor.\n <\/p>\n
\n 2.5 Stars<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When \u201cThe Social Reckoning\u201d hit box offices on Friday, it was met with undeniably high audience expectations. With…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":647146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[146,85,46],"class_list":["post-647145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}