When The Social Network premiered in 2010, Facebook was a fledgling entity, barely six years old. David Fincher's corporate thriller, packed with Sorkin's razor-sharp dialogue and Reznor's ominous score, captured the nascent drama of tech titans. Fast forward to 2023: Facebook, now Meta, has become a sprawling enterprise with a web of scandals that Hollywood could only dream of. Frances Haugen's leaked memos, and the film The Social Reckoning, depict Facebook's algorithms pushing users into extremist content, culminating in the January 6 Capitol riot.
The film's structure feels clunky, with intertitles and visual cues that remind us of the timeline. Despite its engaging performances and Sorkin’s trademark dialog, the plot is awkwardly pieced together, reminiscent of a film that was perhaps too late in coming. In a crowded field of tech-related films, The Social Reckoning feels slightly out of step, with its climax eerily prescient of events.
Amidst the timely offerings, such as Alex Gibney's Musk and Nathan Fielder & Lance Oppenheim's You Can See Everything, The Social Reckoning stands as a reminder of how tech ethics are in constant flux. The debate over truth and its negotiation in the digital age is a pressing issue, one that continues to boil over into agonizing questions of accountability.







