Aaron Sorkin's anti-Zuckerberg film 'The Social Reckoning' is drawing fire from critics on both left and right

From the Newshound archive · first published 9 October 2026.

'The Social Reckoning', Aaron Sorkin's follow-up to his acclaimed 2010 film 'The Social Network', has landed to a deeply divided reception, scoring just 61% on Rotten Tomatoes against its predecessor's 96%. Jeremy Strong plays Zuckerberg as a "full-on villain" who resists any hint of corporate responsibility for harm to young users. Conservative critics mocked the film's framing as tone-deaf, while mainstream reviewers were also lukewarm about its political messaging.

The original 'The Social Network' won three Oscars; the new film tackles whistleblower claims that Meta executives knew their products were harming children.

Some analysts are comparing Meta's legal and reputational crisis to the "Big Tobacco" moment — even as the company's business is booming and its market value sits at $2tn.

Conservative critic Ian Miller called it "the most Hollywood thing ever" to portray the man "making complete sense" as the villain.