Director: Aaron Sorkin
Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison) loves her job and believes in Facebook’s ability to bring people together. But when she sees some disturbing trends, she becomes concerned by the direction of the platform run by Mark Zuckerberg (Jeremy Strong). Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) is an investigative reporter looking for an insider to follow up on the political impact he is seeing. This brings him and Haugen together, and the more they dig, the more the story comes together. Haugen grows disillusioned by what she sees and ever more determined to see it stopped, leading her on a route that will take her public and place her and Zuckerberg in front of political committees.
This second trip into the world of Facebook for Aaron Sorkin has had mixed reviews, but I thought it was great. I am its target audience. I like Sorkin’s films, and this, with its investigative style, disturbing core premise and the bravery of its “heroine”, is compelling. It lets Sorkin do what he does well: take a complex story and wordy script and keep it engaging and fast-moving, always carrying the audience along.
It has two excellent central performances. Mikey Madison is great as Frances Haugen, thoroughly believable as the seemingly “mousey”, super-intelligent data scientist who stands up to be counted in a way many wouldn’t. Equally believable is Jeremy Allen White, and there’s great chemistry as they trade barbs and quips, but with respect for the work each is doing. Betty Gilpin is excellent as the WSJ’s San Francisco bureau chief. Jeremy Strong has the least to do as a one-dimensional Zuckerberg, although that is probably the point.
Its message is not subtle, although it avoids being preachy, and its disturbing premise is hard-hitting, from the statistical realities to the spread of misinformation and the abuse of the platform’s loose controls by those in power.
This for me was a story with an important message delivered brilliantly. A like from me!
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