A gripping new legal thriller movie is available to watch now

It's a follow-up to one of the best films of the 21st century.

Aaron Sorkin, who wrote the screenplay for the original 2010 movie, has replaced David Fincher in the director's chair for the follow-up.

More of a journalism/legal thriller than its predecessor, though still based on true events, The Social Reckoning continues the story of Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg (now played by Oscar-nominee Jeremy Strong) 11 years later. This is after his company grew exponentially, popularising social media and fundamentally altering how humans communicate and gather information.

Zuckerberg is not at the centre of this story in the same way. This time around, the focus is on Frances Haugen (Oscar-winner Mikey Madison), who begins the story as a young Facebook engineer.

Concerned that the radicalisation of an old acquaintance (Portia Doubleday, excellent in the film's memorable, clever prologue) may be linked to Facebook's algorithm, she reaches out to Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White), an investigative technology reporter for The Wall Street Journal, someone already suspicious of the social media platform. Together, they embark on a "dangerous journey that ends up blowing the whistle on the social network's most guarded secrets".

The Social Reckoning is mostly about information that has been public knowledge for several years. That said, writer-director Sorkin deserves praise for gathering all this vast, complex information and conveying it in ways that feel both clear and entertaining.

Watch the trailer for The Social Reckoning right here:

He does this by structuring the film as a process-based investigation story. We watch as Horwitz tries to recruit Facebook staff as sources. Haugen bites, though she's at first reluctant to whistleblow on her employers. The engineer is an introvert who joined the company because she genuinely loves the opportunities for socialisation the platform provides. That said, she can't stand idly by while Facebook ignores her concerns, something Horwitz uses to get his scoop.

As a viewer, you're compelled by each new revelation gathered by Haugen and Horwitz. Yet, as they snowball, you begin to understand the level to which Facebook, quickly and quietly, seeped its tendrils into many aspects of our lives.

This focus on the main investigatory plotline does limit the amount of screen time for Strong's Zuckerberg. That said, when he is onscreen, he's completely hypnotic, conjuring a strange mix of coldness, confidence, pettiness, and sadness, a cocktail that rings true.

Sorkin may not be the maestro behind the camera that Fincher is. That said, his typically dextrous, punchy, quick-witted dialogue does give the film a breakneck pace. Plus, he's assembled an incredible ensemble cast, which also includes Betty Gilpin, Bill Burr, Billy Magnussen, and Gbenga Akinnagbe, all of whom are superb.

If we had one main flaw with The Social Reckoning, it's triumphant final moments ring hollow. After all, even though the world knows more about how Facebook operates now, many of the problems depicted persist. That is without mentioning the other giant social media companies that seem to have followed Facebook's lead.

All in all, The Social Reckoning may not be of the same high quality as The Social Network. That said, it is a fascinating, worthy follow-up, one that also stands on its own as a solid journalism/legal thriller about the current moment.

JOE's interview with Jeremy Allen White and Mikey Madison for The Social Reckoning

JOE UK had the chance to interview The Social Reckoning's star Jeremy Allen White and Mikey Madison.

You can read that conversation, which has been edited slightly for length and clarity, below:

JOE: When you get this email in [offering you a part in this sequel], what reassures you that this movie will do justice to The Social Network? Because I think it's fair to say not every sequel to a classic movie has worked in cinematic history.

Jeremy Allen White: For sure, yeah. The Social Network began with Aaron Sorkin and The Social Reckoning begins with Aaron Sorkin, so. I think I felt very safe in his hands.

It's his words. He's one of our greatest writers, he understands this world so well, so I think I felt very safe with him and with Mikey.

I think Mikey was already attached before I was, and I was excited that she was interested and that she wanted to do it and Jeremy [Strong]. It felt safe, yeah.

JOE: You've both been in ensemble films before, but this movie is stacked from top to bottom. How exciting is that as an actor, when you see who you're going to get to work with?

Mikey Madison: It's really exciting. It's also funny because Aaron told me that you were doing the movie and that was one of the reasons why I wanted to do it.

So I guess maybe he was talking to us at the same time [she laughs].

Yeah, it's an incredible cast. I'm just disappointed I didn't get to work with many of them [because she's part of a different plotline].

I'd love to work with Strong one day and Wunmi [Mosaku] and Bill Burr and lots of other incredible actors that are in this movie, but I had the pleasure of working with Jeremy [points to Allen White], number one.

JOE: When you go from winning an Oscar, sometimes actors take it easy, take a few more niche roles. You've dived straight back in with a massive movie. Was there any reason behind that, or was this just too good to turn down?

MM: I think I was just looking for the right thing to do or something that felt really different or interesting or challenging for me. And so this was a character that I felt personality-wise and essence-wise I had never attempted before. 

There was something about her emotional restraint that was really interesting to me, because I think I have somehow gotten into a pocket of playing quite emotionally volatile, bombastic characters. She was someone who was extremely refined and I thought it would be interesting to attempt that.

JOE: Jeremy, you've played a lot of real people in your recent movies. I would say Jeff Horwitz is probably less known to the wider public on screen anyway, certainly compared to Springsteen or even Kerry Von Erich. How much license do you have to bring Jeff to the screen and how much do you enjoy that as a process? And do you think he enjoyed it?

JAE: Yeah, I don't know. I never spoke to Jeff. I think Aaron did a great deal in sort of the preparation. But yeah, you're right, I sat down with Aaron to talk about doing this film and I had just finished the Bruce Springsteen film and I think I was proceeding with caution.

I was like: 'I just did this thing and I played this guy and it was really rewarding, but also I was very anxiety ridden throughout the process,' and I wasn't sure if I wanted to do it. And Aaron said very quickly: 'Look, this is my version of Jeff, this is my story, this is my world, you have your freedom to come to the table. You don't need to look exactly like him, you don't need to sound exactly like him. This is my version, and I want it to be our version.'

So I felt like I had the freedom, but also a great deal of information about him. I had his book, I had some video, a lot of audio of him, so I kind of had the best of both worlds, I suppose.

Have you both spoken to your characters in real life since the film has come out at all?

JAW: No.

MM: Yeah, I mean, I've been communicating over email with Frances, and she seems like she's very happy with things, and I'm meeting her soon in person, which I'm excited about.

JOE: Someone who might be less happy is Mr Zuckerberg. Mark Zuckerberg famously wasn't overly thrilled with the first movie. How do you feel he'll take his portrayal by Jeremy in this movie? What does it even matter?

MM: I don't know if I can speculate how he will feel because I have no idea.

JOE: We're all of the Facebook generation, I think. I'm 31, so we've grown up with Facebook in our lives. Do we think we'll ever truly understand what difference it's made to our lives?... What aspect of Facebook do you think's changed you?

JAW: It's hard. You lump Facebook in with technology as a greater concept. But I think social media, that's how we get all of our information every day, and then we're trusting that that information is good information.

I think there's a lot of positive things, it connects us with all sorts of people, it can teach us a lot of things. But there's also a dependency that's been formed. I mean, we're always reaching for our phones.

I'm very careful. I've got two young children and I want them to know a world without it, and then obviously they'll have to live in the world that we've created for them, but I want them to at least be able to think back and remember a time without being so connected.

JOE: What was the one thing that kind of surprised, scared or fascinated you the most researching and doing this film when it came to social media?

MM: I think maybe some of the numbers, the statistics that came up, because I think I had a general idea or understanding of what those things were, but to actually see the numbers in front of you, I think it was pretty shocking and put things into perspective.

JOE: I think the film was brilliant at showing the causation, dripping it in slowly, slowly throughout to really bring it home exactly what you guys are talking about, because a lot of it's quite technical at points.

Jeremy Strong, he's got a bit of a cult fan base, I think it's fair to say, due to his acting style, his intensity, his previous choices of work. [Speaking to Mikey] You shared one scene with him during the film...

MM: Yeah, barely... I worked with him for maybe half a day, and I was so disappointed that I didn't get to do more. But it was really interesting to witness his process because I just got to be more of a background actor at that point.

But I knew Jeremy [Strong] before from our interweaving previous press tours [Strong was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for The Apprentice, the same year Madison won the Best Actress prize for Anora]. He was someone that [you] would have like deep conversations with and like write down secrets and hide them in couch cushions and then to see him as this character that he's created was pretty spectacular.

JOE: What do you think's the one scene that will really excite Jeremy Strong fans in terms of the coldness that he brings to this character at times?

MM: I think he brings a lot of nuance and depth as well. It was very interesting watching that performance. There was a lot that I didn't expect.

But there's some long sequences in a fake courtroom type of setup that they've created that are pretty compelling.

The Social Reckoning is in cinemas now.