The Social Reckoning was released to theaters in the United States on Friday, October 9, 2026. It spoke of the danger FaceBook (now META) presented in allowing free speech leading to radicalizing falsehoods. It spoke of the indifference of its owner/creator Mark Zuckerberg to curtail the lies, instead often pushing for user engagement [read: $$$] regardless of how the user was actually engaged. In the film, Zuckerberg himself (Jeremy Strong), showed great reluctance to help curtail the January 6, 2021, riots. I.e. violence instigated by Trump, based on lies, and amplified by the FaceBook platform. Zuckerberg stood and watched while democracy failed, seeming to take no responsibility for his part in it.
On Saturday, October 17, 2026, just eight days later, there was a countrywide “No Kings” protest focused exactly on holding accountability for the instigator of January 6, Donald Trump. Meta [read: Mark Zuckerberg] suspended the “No Kings” Instagram account on the day … and only that day.
For someone who touts political neutrality, Mark, you sure have come down heavily on the side of evil. Er, I’m sorry, the side of billionaires, widespread corruption, and fascist amplification. Sure, maybe it’s not evil, per se, I mean billionaire, corrupt Nazis might have done some nice things, right?
Data Scientist Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison – who I liked here far more than her whiny performance in Anora) needs an elevator pitch. Especially as she works for FaceBook, a social media app dominated by patriarchy, RW talking points, and cluelessness.
As an aside here, this biographical work takes us back to 2019, which in my mind is a crime. We knew FB helped elect Donald Trump in 2016. We knew after the election that Russian botfarms had pushed conservative talking points and slandered Democrats in an effort to promote the worst person on the world becoming President. Why were we not alarmed about FB in 2016 or even 2017, where we learned exactly who Trump was and the damage he was capable of doing as President? The alarm should have rung far sooner. And yet, here we are.
Frances finds data that concludes FB is deliberately leading users to become radicalized. Stop for a moment and think about that. This is one of the largest factors that drives Republican votes – the fear that Muslims and Lefties and such are becoming radicalized. There is a fear there that consistently brings Republicans to the polls. Here’s the data showing FB is the tool by which radicalization happens, and, tell me, what does the Republican voter think about this? Frances finds her alarm falls upon deaf ears, which, in turn, makes her susceptible when investigative journalist Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) goes searching for a story. Her NDA says “no,” but her sense of justice says “yes.”
Being a film written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, there will be a lot of minutiae and the need to spell it out for us poor 
helpless saps who cannot follow a trendline. Sorkin enlists two major ways to help the audience out. The first is by making the likable Horwitz more of a dummy than he actually is. Every time Ms. Haugen comes to him with new information, Jeff has her explain it to him, which helps us. The other tool Sorkin uses is a timeline overlay whenever he wants to tell the story of 2021 instead of the story of 2019. In 2021, the film watches Mark Zuckerberg prep for Congressional grilling using the finest tools his money can buy. There is an evil -in and of itself- in knowing that Mark Zuckerberg is preparing to defy the grilling. He has to know his policies have led to disharmony, have led to fascism, have led to death. And his response has been … underwhelming.
The Social Reckoning doesn’t have the same power as The Social Network, which is a darn shame as the sequel deals with far more important issues. The first leads to individual cases of depression; the second shows how January 6 not only happened, but was ignored as it happened by people who could have done something to alleviate the chaos. I don’t like that the film never said the name “Trump” even once. In fact, I’d consider concluding with the events of January 6, 2021, and not mentioning Donald Trump is darn near cinematic malpractice. I know this was a choice, and I know the film set out to condemn FaceBook/Zuckerberg, but without Trump and Trump’s enormous ego, and Trump’s massive narcissism, and Trump’s microthin skin, January 6 never happens. That’s true regardless of FB policy. The biggest problem with this film is it doesn’t go far enough; there needed to be pure condemnation of Zuckerberg and Trump here, not just an educated guess. Somewhere in that wiggle room, these fucking billionaire douchebags always wiggle away from accountability.
Once lived an awkward boy named Mark
Who like rating women on a lark
He grew up from his dorm
To found the ultimate platform
For turning ratings into some shit that gets dark
Rated R, 112 Minutes
Director: Aaron Sorkin
Writer: Aaron Sorkin
Genre: Movies you should see but won’t
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: No Kings!
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Mark Zuckerberg
