The Social Reckoning': Aaron Sorkin Returns to Facebook With Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White and Wunmi Mosaku

Oct 2

Sixteen years after The Social Network told the story of Facebook's birth, Aaron Sorkin is back to tell the story of its reckoning.

The Social Reckoning opens nationwide Oct. 9 from Columbia Pictures. Sorkin wrote the script and, this time, directs it himself. He's calling it a companion piece rather than a sequel. New events, a new cast, and a very different question: not how Facebook was built, but what it did once it ran the world.

The story

The film follows Frances Haugen, a young Facebook engineer who teams up with Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz to expose the company's most closely guarded secrets. Their work became the Journal's Facebook Files series, which revealed that the company knew about many of the harms its platforms caused.

The film is adapted from Haugen's memoir, The Power of One. Early reactions say Sorkin draws a straight line from Facebook's algorithms to how we vote and how we treat one another, including the events of Jan. 6.

The cast

Mikey Madison plays Frances Haugen. It's her first role since her Oscar-winning turn in Anora.
Jeremy Allen White of The Bear plays journalist Jeff Horwitz.
Jeremy Strong takes over the role of Mark Zuckerberg from Jesse Eisenberg. Even the film's harshest trailer critics said he nailed Zuckerberg's voice.
Wunmi Mosaku, Betty Gilpin, Billy Magnussen and Bill Burr round out the ensemble.

The Wunmi Mosaku factor

For many moviegoers, this will be their first look at Mosaku since Sinners. As Annie, the hoodoo practitioner who became the film's spiritual anchor, she helped power Ryan Coogler's film to a record 16 Oscar nominations and earned her own nod for Best Supporting Actress.

The BAFTA-winning actor joined The Social Reckoning shortly before cameras rolled, and Sony has kept her role under wraps. Whatever the size of the part, it's a smart next move. Mosaku is stepping into a prestige ensemble with a two-time Oscar-nominated writer, alongside a Best Actress winner, in a film the studio dated a full year out with awards season in mind.

Early buzz

First reactions have praised the performances, especially from Madison and White, who are said to carry the film. Strong reportedly has limited screen time but makes it count.

The most common critique is the shadow of David Fincher, who directed The Social Network. Several early viewers say Sorkin's direction can't match Fincher's visual precision. One early reaction also found Alexandre Desplat's score overpowering. Viewers seem to agree the story itself is powerful and urgent.

The bigger picture

The film arrives at a moment when the questions it raises feel less like history and more like daily life. Haugen has said one reason she chose Horwitz to work with was that he cared about how Facebook was hurting people in overlooked parts of the world. For audiences across the diaspora, where these platforms often function as the internet itself, that part of the story may hit hardest.

The Social Reckoning is rated R for language and runs 1 hour, 52 minutes. It opens in theaters nationwide Friday, Oct. 9.