Before we get to The Social Reckoning, the highly anticipated sequel (of sorts?) to The Social Network, let’s talk about the chameleon of an actor who goes by the name of Jeremy Strong.
Strong popped up on my radar by way of the HBO show Succession, which would go on to lock in as a Top 5 show on Pop Thruster’s best 100 TV shows ever.
Strong plays Kendall Roy, the striving and conniving son of a Rupert Murdoch-like media mogul angling amongst the kids and other corporate sharks to take over poppa’s empire. Among a ridiculously talented cast, Jeremy Strong stands out for his ability to both emote raw ambition, wild vulnerability, and a consistent willingness to look ridiculous for the good of the character and the story.
More recently, Strong took on the part of Roy Cohn in The Apprentice – a movie aptly named after the reality TV show that helped spawn Donald Trump to the presidency. The movie covers the young Trump’s rise – played by Sebastian Stan in another remarkable performance – from managing his slumlord of a father’s apartment properties to becoming a mogul (there’s that word again) of New York real estate.
Roy Cohn was the McCarthyism era prosecutor turned shady political fixer who became Trump’s mentor and access point to the power levers in New York City in the 1970s. And once again, Jeremy Strong melts into his role in The Apprentice, to the point where you completely forget that oh yeah, this is the guy who crushed it for four seasons on Succession.
The Social Network is an outstanding movie that came out way back in 2010. I went with “way back” because it’s wild to think that as of 16 years ago, Facebook was already a household name and deeply integrated into the digital lives of millions.
Directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, the movie details the creation of what was initially called The Facebook in Harvard’s dorms and its dizzying growth as a business under founder Mark Zuckerberg’s direction. Part of what makes the movie compelling is the clinical and unvarnished way that it depicts Zuckerberg’s ruthless handling of his early co-founder and backers, leading up to contentious legal dealings that culminate in Zuckerberg securing complete control over the company.
But what really sells The Social Network is Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal of young Zuck: cold, guarded, manipulative, with an alien-like vibe in his dealings with fellow humans. The entire dynamic is bizarre and ironic when we consider that the optimistic – some might say marketing – case for Facebook is to better connect people via digital communities and tools.
As someone who makes a living in technology, I’ll also add that the first half hour of the movie features some of the most realistic and exciting sequences involving solving technical problems and developing software that I’ve ever seen. On the TV side of things, I’ll nominate Halt and Catch Fire along the same lines.
Which brings us to The Social Reckoning, a sequel movie of sorts that checks in with Zuckerberg and Facebook in the wake of the “Facebook files” circa 2021. Ostensibly, the plot is driven by Frances Haugen’s (Mikey Madison) leaking of thousands of documents to Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White), but for my money the reason to check this one out is to see Jeremy Strong’s take on now Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
We hear Jeremy Strong as Zuck in The Social Reckoning teaser trailer before we see him, and my instinctual first impression – that vibe you get on a gut level before any intellect is used to conjure up a coherent thought – is that he’s scarily good in this movie.
That’s to say that I knew I needed to see The Social Reckoning based on Strong as Zuck spelling out his name in response to a question during prep to testify before Congress.
The moment hits home even harder when Zuck is asked what his occupation is. “Professional defendant,” this version of Zuckerberg responds with a mixture of disdain and nerd-infused snark.
Then when we see Strong’s physical transformation, it’s even more striking: the guy we’re seeing in this movie feels like the Facebook founder and Meta CEO even more so than Eisenberg in The Social Network.
While Sorkin wrote both movies, some are lamenting that David Fincher is not involved with The Social Reckoning – Sorkin takes over both roles this time around. The argument is that while Sorkin is a fine writer, his directing style will make The Social Reckoning feel more like a stage play put to film rather than a full-throated Real Movie.
Even if that argument proves out to be correct, I’ll argue that based on the teaser trailer it might not even matter.
Throw out the story, the direction, or if “the Facebook guy” is worthy of two large budget films made about him.
I’m already convinced that The Social Reckoning is worth seeing to watch Aaron Sorkin’s words coming out of Jeremy Strong’s embodiment of Mark Zuckerberg.
The Social Reckoning is scheduled to be released on October 9th, 2026.