'The Social Reckoning' is all clicks, but no results – Review
'The Social Reckoning' is all clicks, but no results – Review
Brian Truitt, USA TODAYWed, October 7, 2026 at 1:01 PM UTC
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It’s been made quite clear that “The Social Reckoning” is not a sequel to “The Social Network” but more of a “companion piece.” Which is probably fine given that “The Social Network” is a seminal movie about early tech-bro culture and the social-media movement, while “Reckoning” is definitely not essential.
Aaron Sorkin wrote both films but also takes the director’s chair with “Reckoning” (★★ out of four; rated R; in theaters Oct. 9), a true-life drama that explores the Wall Street Journal’s investigation into Facebook radicalizing its users and ties it into the Jan. 6 insurrection. The movie squanders the timely premise and a formidable cast, which includes Emmy and Oscar winners alike, for a dull, half-baked journalism flick. It tries to be “All the President’s Men” but if it cut to Richard Nixon being weird every 10 or 15 minutes.
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“Reckoning” mainly unfolds over two periods. In 2019, Facebook data scientist Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison) learns a former friend is now part of an alt-right online community, and once she starts digging, Frances figures out that the Facebook algorithm is sending users toward hate groups. Wanting to do good with her job, she reaches out to Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White), a new guy covering tech who can’t work a GPS. Frances turns whistleblower, finding evidence to help Jeff dig into the whys of Facebook changing its algorithm.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (Jeremy Strong) is a recurring player in that subplot but also has his own story line set in 2021, as the off-kilter billionaire is readying to testify before a congressional hearing about social media and disinformation, and getting a lot of grief from Charlie (Bill Burr), an ex-Facebook adviser who's a hostile interrogator of Zuckerberg’s morally questionable decision-making.
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Granted, it takes some filmmaking skills to craft an exciting journalism movie, but it’s been done. Sorkin made “The Trial of the Chicago 7” with a sense of urgency and social importance that’s sorely lacking in “The Social Reckoning." Bouncing back and forth between Frances/Jeff and Zuckerberg just slows the momentum of an already listless film that lacks stronger character development.
White and Madison actually are pretty good in their scenes together, even if their characters are steps below their signature roles (his Carmy in "The Bear," her Ani from "Anora"). There’s a watchable quasi-rom-com energy between the two actors as they rendezvous at a local hiking area or his hotel room, digging into so many files and taking a lot of cellphone pictures of graphs. He doles out famous writer quotes and she calls him dumb often, which is certainly an odd choice for the overall stakes and tone of this particular movie.
On paper, Strong seems a decently formidable pick to be Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg in his younger iteration in “The Social Network.” Although Eisenberg was plenty awkward, there was also an authenticity you could feel in his portrayal of a man on the cusp of huge power. The older version played by Strong is more soulless and robotic in his efforts to maintain Facebook user growth by any means necessary. If he was going for creepily unnerving uber-boss, then mission accomplished.
Often, Sorkin’s strong screenplays make up for a movie’s misgivings. It just doesn’t do the trick here. Unlike the film's characters, who scramble to have all their evidence in order before going public, “The Social Reckoning” can't get its themes together enough to make a coherent point. The movie only succeeds in making you want to log off Facebook forever.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'The Social Reckoning' is all clicks, but no results – Review
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