The follow-up to The Social Network focuses on the fallout of some of Meta's secrets being exposed.
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures has released the first trailer for The Social Reckoning, Aaron Sorkin's follow-up to The Social Network that brings the story of Facebook/Meta crashing into the 2020s. While the original film focuses on the early days of Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg becoming (at the time) the world's youngest billionaire, the new movie is about some of the harms Meta reportedly perpetuated and the fallout of those coming to light.
Whistleblower Frances Haugen is a central figure in The Social Reckoning. In 2021, Haugen claimed — among other things — that Facebook played a part in the spread of election misinformation and the insurrection that took place at the US Capitol in January that year. "Facebook, over and over again, has shown it chooses profit over safety," Haugen said after leaking documents that indicated, for instance, the company allowed VIPs to break its rules and that it was aware Instagram had a negative impact on teens' mental health.
Oscar winner Mikey Madison plays Haugen in The Social Reckoning, while Jeremy Allen White (The Bear) portrays Jeff Horwitz, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal who broke the news of her revelations. Succession's Jeremy Strong — perhaps in a little danger of being typecast as whiny, coddled billionaires who are very special boys — takes over the role of Zuckerberg from Jesse Eisenberg. Sorkin, who wrote both The Social Reckoning and its predecessor, is in the director's chair this time (David Fincher directed The Social Network).
The trailer depicts Haugen and Horwitz attempting to get the word out about some of Meta's deepest secrets while acknowledging that doing so may put them in danger. The film's version of Zuckerberg, meanwhile, is in defiant mode as "a free speech absolutist" when confronted by a character (played by Bill Burr) about "the firehose of bad information you are injecting into the air supply." In what appears to be a mock hearing, Zuckerberg characterizes his occupation as "a professional defendant."
The Social Reckoning is set to hit theaters on October 9.
