THE SOCIAL RECKONING Trailer Is Here, and Aaron Sorkin is Coming for Facebook All Over Again

Sixteen years. That's how long it's been since David Fincherand Aaron Sorkincracked open the founding mythology of Facebook and turned it into one of the defining films of a generation.

The Social Network hit theaters in 2010, and it was one hell of a great film. Now Sorkin is back, and this time he's got a whistleblower, a Wall Street Journal reporter, and what might be the most uncomfortable courtroom scenes.

Columbia Pictures has dropped the first trailer for The Social Reckoning, described as a "companion piece to The Social Network," and it is sure to generate some serious conversation.

The film is inspired by the real-life story of Frances Haugen, a Facebook engineer who partnered with WSJ reporter Jeff Horwitz to expose the platform's most closely guarded secrets.

The events formed the backbone of the Journal's landmark exposé known as the Facebook Files, and Sorkin has adapted the whole thing himself, directing from his own screenplay.

Mikey Madison leads the film as Haugen, and she is joiined by Jeremy Allen White, who plays Horwitz, and the trailer frames their dynamic in the story.

Madison's character sits down with White's reporter and tells him flat out that she wants to "help Facebook, not hurt it," which leaves him visibly confused about why, exactly, she called a journalist. It's a great hook, and it's the kind of loaded line Sorkin has always known how to weaponize.

Rounding out the ensemble are Wunmi Mosaku, Betty Gilpin, Billy Magnussen, Bill Burr, and Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg, which is a casting choice that is going to be a big talking point.

Strong plays Zuckerberg in what appears to be a Senate-style hearing, composed and seemingly unbothered by everything swirling around him. He calls himself a "free speech absolutist" and insists he's "not the one who's lying."

Here's the thing though, Strong is a genuinely extraordinary actor. Anyone who watched Succession knows what he's capable of. But watching this trailer, it's hard not to feel like something isn't quite clicking in that role.

There's an age gap that's difficult to overlook, and something about the performance, at least in these brief glimpses, feels slightly out of register with the Zuckerberg audiences think they know.

Jesse Eisenberg's version of the character left such a specific imprint that anyone stepping into it was always going to face an uphill battle. Is that fair? Probably not entirely. But it's the reality of following an iconic performance, and Strong is going to have to win people over.

It looks like all of the actors around him in the film are great, though! Strong, at least for me, is the only one that doesn’t quite seem to fit. But, we’ll see how things go when I watch the full movie.

The Social Reckoning opens October 9. Whether it lives up to its predecessor is a question only the full film can answer. I love Sorkin’s work, so I’m looking forward to it.