By Jackson TOYON

It’s been 16 years since the world first saw director David Fincher’s “The Social Network” and much has changed since we felt sympathy for Jesse Eisenberg’s geeky-but-flawed depiction of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook (now Meta) is unregulated and omnipresent and Mr. Zuckerberg is no longer a student fresh out of a college dorm room – instead being one of the most powerful unelected men in the world, mired in all the controversy and criticism that comes with it. Aaron Sorkin, who wrote the screenplay for “The Social Network,” has stepped into the position of director for this official follow-up film that explores the outsized role Facebook plays in the lives of everyone – and where the world stands after more than two decades with its presence.

In 2019, Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison) joins Facebook’s “Civic Integrity” team as a data engineer. She believes in the company’s stated mission of connecting people but sees troubling signs that Facebook’s leadership is prioritizing user engagement and revenue over user safety. At the same time, political investigative reporter Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) is hired at the San Francisco branch of the Wall Street Journal to write coverage on Facebook. After fruitless attempts to make her concerns heard, Haugen responds to a message from White and agrees to meet in secret. Though she still fears breaching her NDA and believes in the company’s capacity to do good, she relays her concerns to White and concedes to help him in his efforts to investigate the tech giant. Jumping ahead to 2021, we find Mark Zuckerberg (Jeremy Strong) rehearsing as he prepares to testify before the U.S. Senate in the wake of the Wall Street Journal’s reporting with the help of his aides and his crisis management consultant Raya (Wunmi Mosaku). Zuckerberg goes along with the rehearsal but becomes increasingly frustrated as Raya and former Facebook investor Charlie Garrigan (Bill Burr) press him on Meta’s policies.

I first wish to recognize and appreciate the director’s efforts in getting this important story told despite the obstacles it faced during production, as I’m sure it was difficult. Aaron Sorkin is a brilliant writer who has directed some successes in the past but I believe he may produce his best and most enduring work while not sitting in the director’s chair. David Fincher was in fact Sorkin’s first choice for the job but he was unavailable – and I can’t help but agree that a director/writer pairing of Fincher and Sorkin would have resulted in a stronger project and better companion piece to the original film. Ultimately, “The Social Reckoning” disappoints a little in that it boasts a quality script but the execution of it pales in comparison to “The Social Network.”

Though its direction is lackluster, the film is still anchored by a very solid cast. Mikey Madison, fresh off her Oscar win for Best Actress in “Anora,” is great and proves that she’s not a one-hit wonder as a leading actress. Jeremy Allen White, though not incredibly memorable, provides likable chemistry alongside Madison through his tech illiteracy. Jeremy Strong’s long face and intense presence are highly effective in portraying the unsettling and Machiavellian personality we have come to know from Zuckerberg in the last decade, right down to the creepy Caesar haircut. Bill Burr even manages to be a standout in this, though he occupies a supporting role. Without a cast this good, I’m not sure the film would have carried as much weight as it does.

“The Social Reckoning” is a competent biographical legal thriller that touches on the important issue of the dangers of social media but it’s missing an emotional core and feels like a warning that came a little late. The film covers an issue that we lived through and are continuing to live through – and despite the somewhat triumphant ending it is an issue that has proven to have only gotten worse since Meta’s misdeeds were revealed to the public. It’s a project that potentially would have been better suited as a comprehensive documentary, leaving the film firmly in the realm of decent rather than great, where its precursor so comfortably resides to this day.

Rated R.