Jeremy Strong method acts his way to making The Social Reckoning watchable

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The Social Reckoning is rather unnecessary as a sequel to The Social Network, so it’s been labelled as a ‘companion piece’. This is likely due as well to its new cast and new Mark Zuckerberg in Jeremy Strong after Jesse Eisenberg declined to reprise the role. It also doesn’t actually tell us anything we don’t already know – Facebook’s whistleblowers have made headlines in recent years – but it will make an impact all over again, thanks to the power of cinema, a buzzy cast and being neatly packaged up and jazzed up by Aaron Sorkin. And, of course, Strong in another scene-stealing turn. Meta (previously known as Facebook) and Zuckerberg should be as worried as they likely are by this film and its approach, and some of writer-director Sorkin’s trademark sharp dialogue shines, such as the casually damning admission from one employee that ‘we’re post-government around here’. Set between 2019 and 2021, we are separately introduced to introverted but passionate data scientist Frances Haugen (Anora Oscar winner Mikey Madison), who works on Facebook’s Civic Integrity Team, and new Wall Street Journal tech reporter Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White), who can’t work out how to use his GPS and enlists his interns to help him open encrypted emails. As you can imagine, Haugen has quite a lot of fun with this later, even if Sorkin does slightly over egg the idea of Horwitz as technologically challenged. The Social Reckoning positions itself as a ‘companion piece’ to 2010’s The Social Network, starring Jeremy Allen White and Mikey Madison as a journalist and whistleblower exposing Facebook (Picture: CTMG, Inc/Leah Gallo) While Mark Zuckerberg is this time a supporting role – and this time played by Jeremy Strong – he’s still the main draw (Picture: CTMG, Inc/Leah Gallo) Inspired by the true story, Haugen is concerned about Facebook’s algorithm after seeing a former acquaintance, now seemingly radicalised, posting a video of herself hurling racist abuse at two law enforcement officers. But no one at Facebook wants to know, and Zuckerberg himself isn’t willing to give up 1% of the platform’s engagement to curb misinformation – so she goes to Horwitz. Strong’s Zuckerberg is well deployed in the film as a supporting part in what is largely a two-hander for Madison and White. The Apprentice Oscar nominee really brings that eerie intimidation to the founder, portrayed with an impatient hyperfocus, who apparently is far too busy for manners as he keeps hacking away at his underling’s presentation to make her get to the point. He’s not too busy though to keep that recognisably unforgiving Caesar hairstyle from the period cropped. Bar the meeting attended by Haugen, Zuckerberg is in his own segment of the movie in 2021, getting prepped by advisors to carefully answer questions from the US government, while they also panic over picking out the right tie. These include cool-headed crisis expert Raya (Sinners’ Wunmi Mosaku) and Bill Burr’s Charlie, carefully re-named but based on Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, who left the company unhappily and is back to challenge Zuckerberg’s unchecked power. Aaron Sorkin writes and directs The Social Reckoning, which takes place between 2019 and 2021 (Picture: CTMG, Inc/Leah Gallo) The Social Reckoning: Key details Director Aaron Sorkin Writer Aaron Sorkin Cast Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong, Bill Burr, Wunmi Mosaku, Billy Magnussen, Betty Gilpin, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Anna Lambe, Aidan Laprete, Kelley Pereira, Portia Doubleday Age rating 15 Run time 1hr 52m Release date The Social Reckoning is in cinemas from Friday, October 9. For context, by this time, the site has 2.8 billion monthly users and is valued at $1 trillion – and Haugen’s leak of thousands of documents is about to cause a headache, to put it mildly. Now I don’t care if Strong won’t apologise for his method acting, because it works! It’s a controversial, fully-immersive method that famously had his Succession co-star Brian Cox complaining, but the kind of ego it takes to make that decision also makes sense in this kind of performance. Sure, it leans towards caricature – but it’s effective, the voice is pitch-perfect, and he exudes a fabulously awkward yet spiky aura. He also still manages to elicit a little sympathy from you when Zuckerberg is confronted with one of the biggest consequences of his platform’s decision not to fact-check political ads thanks to his free speech convictions. The Social Reckoning’s script is largely an entertaining one, something to be applauded given how much of the drama is happening virtually with important documents on phone and laptop screens. Madison and White also give solid performances, commanding your attention throughout and fostering a nice clumsy chemistry between two nerds. Strong’s performance makes the film worth seeing (Picture: CTMG, Inc/Leah Gallo) There are still the traditional downfalls of Sorkin’s dialogue though, recognising that regular people aren’t usually half that eruditeor witty (but I loved every minute of Betty Gilpin as Horwitz’s acerbic WSJ boss, Kris). One of Madison’s impassioned monologues as Haugen becomes just a little too performed, while Horwitz’s ‘quirky’ enjoyment of Showboat was a clear throwback to The West Wing’s famous Gilbert and Sullivan episode. There’s a bit of that Sorkin schmaltz too in places, certainly at the end, just like in his most iconic TV show too. And hey, we all pretty much always want Sorkin writing The West Wing again. But Sorkin also is, sadly, no David Fincher when it comes to direction. It’s a very safely presented, pedestrian film in Sorkin’s hands, whereas Fincher and his famous fastidiousness produced a visually bold film in The Social Network to complement and add to Sorkin’s script rather than simply rely on it. He also elevated and launched the careers of Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Rooney Mara – and I think would have potentially finetuned White and Madison just a touch more. Strong, of course, was just fine doing his own thing. Verdict The Social Reckoning isn’t the urgent viewing it wants to be, but it’s nonetheless a perfectly okay film with perfectly okay performances – but added oomph from some of Sorkin’s better lines help, and Jeremy Strong walks away with the movie. See it for Strong if nothing else. The Social Reckoning is in cinemas from Friday. Arrow MORE: Avengers: Endgame’s new box office record shouldn’t be a way to measure movies Arrow MORE: Digger’s apocalyptic box office bomb takes hammer to Tom Cruise’s rebirth Arrow MORE: I worked with Tom Cruise on Digger – this is what he’s actually like Switched On Get plugged into the week’s must-watch shows, unmissable moments, and expert reviews with Metro TV Editor Sabrina Barr.