Jeremy Strong in “The Social Reckoning.”
Sony Pictures Entertainment
The Social Reckoning, Aaron Sorkin’s sequel to the 2010 Best Picture Oscar-nominated dramatic thriller The Social Network, is getting the equivalent of a Facebook “like” (but not “love”) emoji from Rotten Tomatoes critics.
David Fincher directed The Social Network — which starred Jesse Eisenberg as Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg — while Sorkin wrote the script. In addition to the film’s Best Picture nomination, The Social Network earned seven other Oscar nods — including Best Actor for Eisenberg and Best Director for Fincher — and won in three categories, including Best Adapted Screenplay for Sorkin.
Sorkin writes and directs The Social Reckoning, which plays in preview screenings on Thursday before opening in theaters nationwide on Friday. Inspired by true events, the film stars Anora Oscar winner Mikey Madison as Frances Haugen, a Facebook engineer who works with Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) to blow the whistle on the massive social network’s most guarded secrets. Rated R, The Social Reckoning also stars Jeremy Strong (Succession) as Zuckerberg.
The review embargo for The Social Reckoning lifted on Wednesday at 9 a.m. ET/6 a.m. PT., and currently the film has earned a 67% “fresh” critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer based on 33 reviews. RT’s Critics’ Consensus, Audience Summary and Popcornmeter score based on verified user ratings are still pending.
By contrast, The Social Network earned a stellar 96% “fresh” critics’ score based on 335 reviews on RT’s Tomatometer, as well as an 87% “fresh” Popcornmeter score based on 100,000-plus verified user ratings. The RT Critics Consensus for the 2010 film reads, “Impeccably scripted, beautifully directed, and filled with fine performances, The Social Network is a riveting, ambitious example of modern filmmaking at its finest.”
Note: The critics’ score for “The Social Reckoning” on RT will be updated as more reviews are posted on the site.
What Are Individual Critics Saying About ‘The Social Reckoning’?
Joanna Langfield of The Movie Minute is among RT’s critics who give The Social Reckoning a “fresh” score, writing, “Aaron Sorkin’s follow up to The Social Network is not just flying the flag for great journalism, it’s also a lusty annihilation of the Facebook empire, proclaimed loudly enough to rattle even the people who can’t handle the truth.”
Joey Magidson of Awards Radar also applauds Sorkin’s film. Magidson writes in his “fresh” RT summary, “The Social Reckoning makes a compelling case as a worthy companion piece to The Social Network.”
Graeme Guttman of Screen Rant applauds the film as well, but has some reservations. Guttman writes in his “fresh” take on RT, “The question of what her actions achieved – or, rather, whether she achieved anything at all – is the crux of The Social Reckoning. This reckoning, though, feels late.”
Toni Brazier of Metro is complimentary of the film in her “fresh” take on The Social Reckoning, but notes it is lacking. Brazier writes in her review summary on RT, “The Social Reckoning isn’t the urgent viewing it wants to be, but it’s nonetheless a perfectly okay film. Jeremy Strong walks away with the movie, see it for him if nothing else.”
Jake Cole of Slant Magazine is among the critcs on RT who give The Social Reckoning a “rotten” score, writing, “Even when the writing clicks, Aaron Sorkin the director proves surprisingly unable to capture the cadence of his own words.”
Nick Schager of The Daily Beast also deems the film “rotten,” writing on RT, “Inflating Zuckerberg to a one-note boogeyman, The Social Reckoning exaggerates to the point of reduction.”
In his “rotten” take of The Social Reckoning on RT, Yahoo! critic Brett Arnold writes, “The problem is, you can’t set out to write an Important Movie, and Sorkin doesn’t seem willing to leave that judgment to the masses. It tells an important story, but without any of the verve that made Fincher’s film stand the test of time.”
Also starring Wunmi Mosaku, Betty Gilpin, Billy Magnussen and Bill Burr, The Social Reckoning plays in Thursday previews before opening in theaters nationwide on Friday.
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