MOVIE REVIEW:THE SOCIAL RECKONING

 

Facebook engineer Frances Haugen and The Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz blow the whistle on the social network's most guarded secrets.

Director: Aaron Sorkin

Cast: Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong, Bill Burr, Wunmi Mosaku, Betty Gilpin, Billy Magnussen

Release Date: October 9, 2026

 

Genre: Biography, Drama, Thriller

Rated R for language.

Runtime: 1h 52m

Review:

Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning was always going to have a large hill to overcome with the inevitable comparisons to The Social Network, also written by Sorkin, which it can never overcome since this film never captures the immediacy and importance of that film by painting with the broadest of strokes on every level.  Sorkin’s film has a solid story to tell and a collection of talented actors to tell it which makes his surprisingly undeveloped script peppered with clichéd characters all the more confounding.  His direction is rather bland for the lion’s share of the film’s runtime with a few uninteresting visual flourishes thrown in for good measure.  The script makes intriguing figures like Frances Haugen, Jeff Horowitz and Mark Zuckerberg come off as one-dimensional types we’ve seen before in other better films like All The President’s Men, The Post or Spotlight.  The general facts are covered with a sort of matter-of-fact approach that never makes the story as engaging as it should be even as it cycles between different time periods for effect.  The cast is, to their credit, all do their best to bring out of every bit of nuance out of their underwritten roles.  Mikey Madison does an admirable job of making her character more interesting than what’s written on the page.  Sorkin decides to make Frances Haugen a quirky, wallflower intellectual who can dissect data with ease but lacks any sort of actual social skills.  It’s a tired trope especially since the actual woman is nothing like that characterization with her being a willing whistleblower who drove the process much more than the film version of her does.  Jeremy Allen White is stuck in a similar situation with the film’s version of Jeff Horowitz who portrayed as a principled investigative reporter but there’s little else to him with the character kept at arm’s length from the audience.  As such, he’s a bit of an enigma since there’s little depth or background provided outside of passing mentions of previous journalistic accolades.  Jeremy Strong gets the showiest role with this fully formed version of Mark Zuckerberg who’s a robotic, possessing a nearly inhumanly cold demeanor that makes him almost cartoonish.  Strong gives it his all as he clearly relishes emulating Zuckerberg’s quirky mannerism and speech pattern that gives him a distinct feel to Jesse Eisenberg younger version from The Social Network.  The script mostly keeps him locked up in a single space prepping for congressional testimony with an underutilized Wunmi Mosaku.  Bill Burr provides some energy to these sequences as a former Facebook investor and legal counsel who is more than willing to challenge Zuckerberg without fear.  The film needed more heated exchanges like that to really drive those moments home since the film noticeably perks up during those moments.  Once the film wraps up its story, culminating in Haugen’s congressional testimony post insurrection, there’s a noticeable sense that the story remains unfinished as we are still living in the wake of the aftereffects of the events portrayed onscreen.  It makes The Social Reckoning feel like an unfinished product as we are still living through this moment in time and in the shadow of tech billionaires, such as Zuckerberg, acquiescing to the far right   

C

MOVIE REVIEW: OTHER MOMMY

 

Bela, an eight-year-old girl living in a home with marital problems, confronts a sinister entity that comes out of her closet. The presence, whom she calls "Other Mommy," becomes increasingly threatening to her and her family.

Director: Rob Savage

Cast: Jessica Chastain, Jay Duplass, Dichen Lachman, Arian Moayed, Karen Allen

Release Date: October 9, 2026

 

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Rated R for some bloody violence, and language.

Runtime: 1h 34m

Review:

Other Mommy is a derivative, messy horror film that still manages to be entertaining thanks to some showy visuals and a deliciously committed turn from Jessica Chastain.  The film waste little time getting right into the meat of the story with the film’s buzzy trailer serving as the opening salvo.  Rob Savage keeps the film efficiently paced which works in its favor since the script offers up haphazard bits of lore that don’t make much sense the more you think about it.  Savage makes it easier to overlook these shortfalls by delivering a series of set ups and jump scares that are visually impactful especially as they get more hallucinatory and abstract.  Savage uses slivers of his 2023’s film, The Boogeyman, along with bits of The Nightmare on Elm Street series and the late 90’s Ju-On (The Grudge) to craft his story with some elements working better than others.  The story tries to weave in a deeper thread about family discord but it’s handled in such a clunky manner that it fails to land in spite of the cast’s best efforts.  Leading the way is Jessica Chastain who is clearly having a blast playing the Other Mommy role.  She clearly relishes the opportunity to play in this sandbox as she creates a rather disturbing presence by using a series of unblinking facial expressions and unsettling vocal intonations.  She’s much more muted in her non demonic role of Ursula with the performance echoing her turn in the television miniseries, Scenes from a Marriage, but with much more running and screaming.  Chastain keeps the whole thing afloat by sheer will as the script gets more and more nonsensical as it moves along.  Her screen family played by Jay Duplass and Arabella Olivia Clark bring an earnest, natural energy to their roles even if they are both woefully underwritten.  Familiar faces such as Karen Allen and Dichen Lachman pop up in a rushed exorcism scene that feels like it would have been more memorable if the characters had been set up and fleshed out a tad more.  Once its all said and done, Other Mommy maybe an imperfect vessel but there’s still enough entertaining thrills paired with a memorable turn from Jessica Chastain to make it a fun bit mindless genre fun.  

B-

MOVIE REVIEW: VERITY

 

Hired to be a ghostwriter for renowned author Verity Crawford, Lowen Ashleigh's assignment takes a dark turn when she discovers chilling autobiographical notes. As she wrestles with disturbing and twisted confessions about Verity's husband, she soon finds it hard to separate fiction from reality, manipulation from attraction, and opportunity from obsession.

Director: Michael Showalter

Cast: Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, Josh Hartnett, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Brady Wagner

Release Date: October 2, 2026 

 

Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Rated R for sexual content, some nudity, language, violence and bloody images.

Runtime: 1h 54m

Review:

Verity is a glossy psycho thriller that does just enough to elevate the material above Lifetime quality, thanks mainly to a vamping Hathaway, with the story’s series of twists playing out predictably.  Michael Showalter brings a steady hand behind the camera, delivering a visually slick film that takes full advantage of its locale and good-looking cast.  It’s almost too sleek of a film since there’s an artificial air to everything thrown onscreen which gives the entire thing utterly detached from reality.  It’s hard to blame Showalter much since the script is peppered with stiff, unnatural lines of dialogue that feel most like old school Cinemax than anything else.  If the story had just gone all in with its tawdry subject matter and fully embraced it, silliness and all, the film would have worked better as a guilty pleasure.  As is, Anne Hathaway is the only one of the cast who understood the assignment by leaning into the cartoonish nature of the character.   Hathaway chews up every bit of non-comatose screentime she gets and it leaves you wishing the film gave her more time to brood as a mother who hates every aspect of it.  Sadly, those moments come and go far too quickly with Dakota Johnson being asked to carry the lion’s share of the load.  Johnson can deliver some decent performances with good material, but this script offers up a painfully one dimensional and bland character which sets her back to her default setting of the human embodiment of “meh.”  There are a few bits of background thrown around at the beginning of the film but after that her character isn’t given any sort of tangible depth or texture to make you care about her which makes her the least interesting person onscreen.  Josh Hartnett fares slightly better since he’s given a tad more to work with but there are reveals which are telegraphed from a mile away.  The climax plays out in a similar fashion as everything you expect to happen, but instead of eliciting gasp they provide unintentional laughter.  The ending is supposed to be shocking, but it delivered in such a blasé manner that it leaves you with more of a collective shrug than a visceral thrill that leaves you begging for another entry, which is set up at the end.  Verity ends up being a barely passable erotic thriller that thinks it’s far more clever than it actually is.

C-

MOVIE REVIEW: DIGGER

 

The most powerful man in the world embarks on a frantic mission to prove that he's humanity's saviour.

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu

Cast: Tom Cruise, Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jesse Plemons

Release Date: October 2, 2026 

 

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Rated R for pervasive language

Runtime: 2h 9m

Review:

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Digger is a big on every level imaginable, from the scope and scale of the story to the performances led by a particularly fascinating turn from Tom Cruise.  Iñárritu’s film starts off an over-the-top satire in the vein of Dr. Strangelove with oversized cartoonish characters and a world ending crisis at the center of it all.  There’s a major reveal, roughly about a half hour, into the film which changes everything you’ve seen before and going forward, serving as a clear line of delineation.  The story, performances and overall look of the film is reshaped from that point as we are watching something different and far more intriguing than what you are originally led to believe.  It’s a bold choice which is sure to divide audiences but ultimately, it opens up multiple thematic story threads that will linger in your mind well after the film ends.  There’s plenty to dissect afterwards with the film tackling everything from climate change to how art deals with catastrophes and portrayals of those involved.  Some parts work far better than others but even the parts that don’t work have an audacious energy that’s hard to deny especially since the cast is fully on board with Iñárritu’s vison.  Tom Cruise leads the way by bring the kind of over-the-top energy he brought in his Tropic Thunder cameo with the heavy makeup and prosthetics freeing him to go for the gusto throughout.  Cruise delivers each line with an impressive level of commitment highlighted by a nearly 10-minute speech by Digger taking responsibility for the calamity and flipping it back on the raucous international crowd along with the audience.  Nearly every bit of Digger’s dialogue, along with the majority of the supporting cast, is delivered at max decibel levels, which makes more sense in the context of the film.  Intermixed between are smaller moments where Cruise offers up an impressive level of nuance and depth to the character even if the daughter subplot feels slightly under served.  It’s the kind of performance that’s sure to garner Cruise some awards consideration regardless of how critics feel about the movie as a whole.   The talented supporting cast are given plenty of time to shine with John Goodman, Riz Ahmed and Robert John Burke leaving lasting impressions whenever they pop up onscreen.  Sadly, Sandra Hüller and Jesse Plemons feel underutilized with both seemingly begging for more to do.  Digger might not for everybody, almost by design, but those who can appreciate what Alejandro González Iñárritu delivers will find a multi layered story and a stellar level of artistry on both sides of the camera.        

A-

MOVIE REVIEW: THE INFLUENCER PROJECT

 

An influencer travels to Copenhagen for a documentary about her online fame. However, when an obsessive stalker tracks her every move, she must confront her terror to reclaim power.

Director: Mike Nybroe

Cast: Chiara King, Luca Storm, Mike Nybroe, Jazmine Summer, Alexandre Willaume

Release Date: October 2, 2026 US/ October 16, 2026 UK

 

Genre: Horror

Rated R for strong bloody violence, suicide, and language throughout.

Runtime: 1h 35m

Review:

The Influencer Project throws a handful of interesting ideas about the dangers of the influencer lifestyle in the form of a horror mockumentary that works best when it’s grounded closer to reality in its first half before losing its way by turning into a generic slasher in the back half of the film.  Documentary filmmaker, Mike Nybroe, shows off some real talent in his directorial debut by delivering a sleek looking film, taking advantage of his background to create a believable mockumentary.  It helps that he cast real life influencer, Chiara King, as his star especially early on as we get a glimpse behind the scenes of content creation and what is driving the process.  King, to her credit, is perfectly comfortable in the lead role by delivering a natural turn that feels authentic, which is helped by the film’s early focus.  There are plenty of moments where you can tell she’s pulling on her personal experiences which makes her character feel more fully formed than what’s on the actual page.  She possesses a likeable screen presence which makes the film far more watchable than it would be if her character came off as more inherently vapid.  The film starts to struggle once the more outright horror moments start taking hold, relying on an overabundance of jump scares which never lets a tangible sense of tension take hold.  It doesn’t help matters that the situations and character’s actions start to get progressively more nonsensical as the film heads into its final act.  The slasher storyline feels undercooked since it’s never allowed to truly germinate before the film moves into full on horror mode.  It’s a shame because there are some cynically, satirically funny elements thrown about like the steady stream of all too real comments that come through as the King is running for her life.  A post credit stinger also offers up something far more interesting than the standard issue slasher which would have made The Influencer Project much more memorable.  

C+

MOVIE REVIEW: PRIMETIME

 

Chris Hansen, host of "To Catch a Predator," sets out to make television history in 2006.

Director: Lance Oppenheim

Cast: Robert Pattinson, Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, Phoebe Bridgers, Bokeem Woodbine, Anna Faris

Release Date: September 25, 2026

 

Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller

Rated R for disturbing sexual material, graphic nudity, some violent content, and language.

Runtime: 1h 50m

Review:

Lance Oppenheim’s Primetime takes beats from the 1976’s Network and 2014’s Nightcrawler to capture the standard definition sensationalism of To Catch a Predator, powered by stellar turn from Robert Pattinson.  Oppenheim’s first narrative feature is neon tinted character study of Chris Hansen as he and his producer’s drive to make their show the biggest thing on TV.  He gives his film a tangible immediacy from start to finish even as the whole thing turns into a fever dream of misguided self-aggrandizing, justice.  It’s a fascinating film that envelopes you on multiple levels as we go down the rabbit hole along with the characters in the film.  None of the characters are portrayed in a particularly favorable lights with most of them, outside of Skyler Gisondo’s naïve Decoy Dan, being painted as little more than hollow people chasing notoriety and relevance at any cost.  There’s a griminess to it all that bleeds through the screen that’s hard to ignore which gives you a clear idea of what the filmmaker thinks of the whole endeavor.  At the center of it all is Robert Pattinson who perfectly captures Hanson’s inflections and tone which makes it easier to ignore the fact that he looks nothing like the real person.  Pattinson delivers some of his best work of the year, impressive on its own after delivering memorable performances in The Odyssey and The Drama earlier this year.  He’s entrancing anytime he’s onscreen which makes you wonder why the film devotes so much time to Skyler Gisondo’s character.  That’s not to say Gisondo performance isn’t great because it is, but the character just isn’t as interesting as the film’s version of Hansen. Pattinson manages to capture the character’s drive to be respected for what he considers a noble task regardless of how he gets there, highlighted by a couple of hilarious encounters with Dateline stalwart, Stone Phillips.  Merritt Wever is devilishly good as Hansen’s producer that’s more than game to get as much of the salacious content as possible until she slowly starts losing control of the show.  The film takes a much more abstract approach in the final act which won’t work for everyone, but it doesn’t detract from the electric energy of Primetime and its central star.  

B+