Hired by The Wall Street Journal to investigate Facebook’s suspicious activity, Horwitz uncovered the mental persuasion the platform was having on users. He was supported by the number of internal documents provided by Haugen revealing the algorithmic amplification of divisive content and harm to youth. The success of The Facebook Files sparked global investigations into social media’s regulations, forcing platforms to hold accountability for their user’s safety.
Following in the drama-packed footsteps of The Social Network, The Social Reckoning provides audiences with a similar level of intensity through its chilling cinematography and grey-scale composition. The simplistic camera movement creates an authentic, raw feel to adopt a documentary-style film and the moody colour grading adds a sense of suspense and mystery to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. Accompanied by this is a thrilling soundtrack heightening basic scenes that carry great factual importance in the narrative to make the biographical film feel more engaging. This combination of documentary and fictional genre is laid out in a chapter-like form for each section of the film, including both a timeline and prologue to guide the audience through every discovery of the investigation.
...The most admirable feature of The Social Reckoning is its reminder that everything we consume on social media is subjective and manipulated by these powerful institutions...
To commemorate the work of Horwitz and Haugen, the film replicates a journalistic format which is represented through this timeline and the exaggeration of the political importance of their findings. The most admirable feature of The Social Reckoning is its reminder that everything we consume on social media is subjective and manipulated by these powerful institutions. The film repeatedly references Facebook's advocacy of “free speech” for their users, however it is proven by the journalists that the platform's lack of regulation transformed it closer to hate speech. It acts as a reminder to audiences that this issue still occurs today as social media continues to increasingly persuade our political views by developing algorithms for their financial benefit.
As important as these themes are, I do however believe The Social Reckoning is a one-time watch kind of film. Yes, it's factually interesting, but not overly thrilling as a cinematic piece. The gripping acting by Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg created an unlikeable feel to the character placing an immediate bias against Facebook. In contrast, Jeremy Allen White and Mikey Madison’s character portrayals felt authentic and not overly dramatised and were definitely meant to have the audience’s favour. In this respect I’m sure Zuckerberg will likely disapprove of the film, the same as The Social Network, but I think this time he may have fewer worries about this portrayal being noticed at the Academy Awards as a major success.