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THE RUNDOWN
- The Social Reckoning is the sequel film to Aaron Sorkin’s 2010 film, The Social Network, which was released in Australia on October 8, 2026.
- The story is inspired by a series of investigative reports released by The Wall Street Journal that alleged Facebook knowingly allowed harmful flaws to exist on its platforms, embroiling many of Facebook’s staff, including its founder Mark Zuckerberg.
- The Social Reckoning boasts an all-star cast, including Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg, Oscar-winner Mikey Madison and The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White.
15 years after three-time Oscar winning drama The Social Network told the story behind Facebook’s nefarious beginnings, the film’s writer, Aaron Sorkin has returned with a sequel, set to be as thrilling and exposing as its predecessor. The Social Reckoning meets Mark Zuckerberg and his Facebook empire 11 years later in 2021 in the wake of an explosive series of investigative reports released by The Wall Street Journal titled The Facebook Files, which posed a major threat to the future of the platform and Zuckerberg’s leadership.
The Social Reckoning sees Succession‘s Jeremy Strong replace Jesse Eisenberg in the role of Mark Zuckerberg, while Mikey Madison plays Frances Haugen, the Facebook data engineer and whistleblower responsible for leaking the files, and The Bear‘s Jeremy Allen White plays The Wall Street Journal journalist, Jeff Horwitz.
In 2021, Haugen turned over thousands of internal company documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission and The Wall Street Journal, exposing the platform for being aware of its harmful features but not fixing them, despite numerous congressional hearings and media exposés. In The Facebook Files, The Wall Street Journal wrote, “Facebook Inc. knows, in acute detail, that its platforms are riddled with flaws that cause harm, often in ways only the company fully understands.” Some of these flaws included features that exempted powerful actors from the same rules and standards applied to the general public, ignoring data that indicated Instagram’s negative effects on teenage girls, and failing to prevent organised crime groups from using the platform to carry out illegal activity.
The Social Reckoning tells this story, with Madison’s turn as Frances Haugen at its centre. A tense, fast-paced trailer released by Sony in September shows Madison’s character meeting with Jeff Horwitz (White) in a park, in fittingly luxury gorp-core Silicon Valley tech garb wearing the Canada Goose Minden Jacket and a beanie.
Early reviews of the film, which hit cinemas in Australia on October 8, 2026, praise the cast for their compelling performances, though they imply that the film lacks the unnerving, worrying nature its preceding film had. Variety‘s review posits that this might be because, when The Social Network was released, we were yet to see Facebook’s dark side. Now, we’ve never been more aware of it.
Is The Social Reckoning Out In Australia
The Social Reckoning premiered in Australia October 8, 2026. Watch the trailer below.
The post The Gripping True Story Behind ‘The Social Reckoning’ appeared first on ELLE.
