“The Social Network” Writer Aaron Sorkin Revisits Facebook in a New Era in “the Social Reckoning”

In PH cinemas October 7

Facebook has come a long way from its humble beginnings in a university dorm room. Now a global corporate titan, with influence that shapes personal lives and international landscapes, this has become the new story for director Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning. The high-stakes biographical thriller covers the unprecedented Facebook leak by whistleblower Frances Haugen, which exposes evidence of the social media platform’s insidious algorithms that can damage people’s mental health, perception of reality, and even democracy itself. The story was covered by Wall Street Journal’s reporter Jeff Horwitz and became known as The Facebook Files.

“The Social Network was about how Facebook was invented. The Social Reckoning is about what social media has become,” Sorkin says. A companion piece to his earlier screenplay, The Social Reckoning is a stand-alone story set against an entirely different moment in time, of a now-vast corporate fixture making world-altering decisions in the shadows.  

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Sorkin found inspiration to create a companion piece to his earlier work when he read Frances Haugen’s The Power of One and Jeff Horwitz’s Broken Code, two books that dove deep into Facebook’s biggest scandal to date. Haugen and Horwitz’s effort to uncover the platform’s dangerous practices has created such an impact that fallout from the investigations still continues to the present day.

“When I came across those two books, suddenly there was a very dramatic story,” says Sorkin. “I spent hours with Jeff and Frances, at first unsure of exactly what I was looking for. But as the script’s focus began to take shape, I was able to use my time with them more and more productively, looking for very specific answers to how they took on this investigation.” 

The Social Reckoning also focuses on the relationship between Haugen (Mikey Madison) and Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White), two people going against one of the biggest companies in the world. “What interested me most about Frances is that so many people like her found a new lease on life from social media, a place where they could fully be who they are. She knows its potential first-hand,” says Sorkin. “And then I saw Jeff as a stand-in for the audience, this guy who doesn’t get this world or its language and is learning what is happening inside it as he goes along.”

Although Fincher isn’t at the captain’s seat for The Social Reckoning, he remained involved. “David read it right away and a couple of hours later, sent me an email that said, ‘This is nitroglycerin.’ He has been very supportive throughout and a real cheerleader of the movie,” says Sorkin. 

Sorkin hoped that The Social Reckoning would excite audiences, waiting for the pieces to fall into place. “The movie has what I hope is a fun structure for the audience,” reflects Sorkin. “The different timelines put you on the edge of your seat and become a puzzle until you see all the connections. Then, in the third act you see Facebook with its hands on the levers and dials of public conversation at a crucial moment.”

The Social Reckoning unveils the truth as it arrives in Philippine cinemas on October 7.