The Social Reckoning Reactions Are In - And It's Just As Bad As It Looked

If you want to watch a beautifully edited, stunningly scored, and amazingly executed film, you should watch "The Social Network," David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin's Facebook origin story that released in 2011. If you want to watch a sweaty, pale imitation of that film made almost two decades afterwards that attempts and fails to chronicle the worst moments of Facebook's modern era, "The Social Reckoning" is here to fulfill that dubious need. So what do critics think of the standalone sequel, for which Sorkin serves as both the writer and director and which replaces former Mark Zuckerberg actor Jesse Eisenberg with Emmy-winning "Succession" veteran Jeremy Strong?

Not much! The movie got a pretty bleak review right here at Looper, but let's also look elsewhere and see what other critics had to say about Sorkin's movie — which also stars Jeremy Allen White as Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz, Mikey Madison as Facebook employee turned whistleblower Frances Haugen, and Betty Gilpin, Billy Magnussen, Bill Burr, and Wumni Mosaku in supporting roles. Writing for The Daily Beast, Nick Schager opined, "Inflating [Mark] Zuckerberg to a one-note boogeyman, 'The Social Reckoning' exaggerates to the point of reduction." Julian Lytle agreed in his review for Riotus, writing, "'The Social Reckoning' feels like a reckoning with Sorkin's bubble and hubris in trying to follow up what was a perfect team-up with Fincher with a poor solo outing in the main chair." As for Branyan Towe, who reviewed the film for Loud and Clear, he liked the performances but not the product. "The Social Reckoning shouldn't exist," Towe declared. "Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White, and Jeremy Strong are excellent, but Aaron Sorkin's pedestrian, boring script and mediocre direction undermine them and the film's decent, unmistakable message."

At Inverse, critic Hoai-Tran Bui also shared her take on "The Social Reckoning," writing, "'The Social Reckoning' wouldn't feel so middling if it wasn't a clear follow-up to — and drastic downgrade from — the masterpiece that was 'The Social Network.'" (Bui is, for the record, correct; this film wouldn't feel so dreadful to so many critics if they didn't have its masterful precedessor in mind the whole time.) Writing for Collider, Taylor Gates gave the film a slightly favorable review but still noted the same problem: "'The Social Reckoning is a clear downgrade from 'The Social Network,' but Sorkin fans will still find it enjoyable enough to watch." This is essentially what Victoria Luxford said in her review for NME: "The Social Reckoning is not the same instant classic as its predecessor but it is a fine follow-up that places the role of big tech at the heart of many recent headlines. See it, then tell everyone on social media how angry it made you."

Over at The Wrap, William Bibbiani wrote, "By the time 'The Social Reckoning' reaches its inevitable conclusion, we're forced to wonder if Aaron Sorkin knows what the word 'reckoning' means." As Jake Cole said in Slant Magazine, "Even when the writing clicks, Aaron Sorkin the director proves surprisingly unable to capture the cadence of his own words."

Admittedly, some critics had a rosier view of "The Social Reckoning," like Decoding Everything's Caroline Siede. "While [Sorkin's] ultimate conclusions about toxic algorithms and corporate greed won't shock anyone who's been paying attention for the past decade, there's still something impactful about seeing recent history laid out in such a clear-eyed way," she wrote. Go see "The Social Reckoning" in theaters — and decide for yourself.