Sixteen years after The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin once again places Facebook at the center of a film. The Price of Power hits theaters on October 9, arriving at a time when the debate over the power of big tech, misinformation, and corporate responsibility remains more relevant than ever, which is exactly what makes this release a must-see for fans of contemporary political and journalistic cinema.
The film revisits a true story: that of Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee who ended up leaking internal documents, and Jeff Horwitz, the Wall Street Journal reporter who received and worked on that information. Through them, Sorkin constructs a narrative about algorithms, radicalization, and corporate decisions with consequences that affect millions of people.
Mikey Madison, the heart of the film
Mikey Madison plays Frances Haugen, avoiding the typical Sorkin character archetype who has the perfect answer for everything. Her performance introduces a vulnerability that the script does not always manage to convey on its own, showing a woman who understands the implications of what she knows but is not initially prepared to become a public figure.
Madison builds that contradiction with nuance: apparent coldness, social discomfort, and, underneath, a constant calculation of how much she can risk. Her Haugen never enjoys the role of whistleblower, which reinforces the character's credibility when she finally decides to act.
The chemistry with Jeremy Allen White
Jeremy Allen White, in the role of Jeff Horwitz, works especially well alongside Madison because he does not compete with her. His journalist is restrained; he needs to understand the story before telling it and progressively learns how the technological ecosystem he is investigating works.
The relationship between the two is one of the film's strongest points. Sorkin introduces an almost romantic comedy structure to their clandestine meetings, though without developing a real romance, building an intimacy based on professional trust and shared risk.
Jeremy Strong avoids copying Jesse Eisenberg
The choice of Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg was one of the most difficult challenges, given the weight of Jesse Eisenberg's performance in The Social Network. Strong chooses to build a different version: a slower, colder, and much more power-conscious Zuckerberg.
His work conveys the feeling of someone who no longer needs to prove anything, accustomed to the world adapting to him. The problem is that the script soon pushes the character toward an almost monstrous figure, stripping away some of the ambiguity that made his cinematic predecessor so fascinating. Zuckerberg appears little on screen and functions more as a symbol of a power structure than as a fully developed character.
A brilliant screenwriter, a more limited director
The comparison with David Fincher is inevitable, not because the film needs to imitate The Social Network, but because a visual perspective capable of providing a second reading to the dialogue is missing. Sorkin tends to place the camera at the service of the writing, trusting that the actors and lines will do the rest.
The subject matter, however, demands more: algorithms that push toward extreme content, corporate structures with political influence, and decisions whose impact is difficult to measure. Much of this is visualized through characters sitting and talking, with an on-screen timeline that helps situate the narrative but also brings some scenes closer to the territory of dramatized reporting rather than cinema itself.
Addictive dialogue that begins to repeat
Sorkin maintains his ear for repartee and irony, and several exchanges between the characters are especially enjoyable. However, the more characters that enter the scene, the more evident it becomes that they all share the same mental speed and responsiveness, which homogenizes their voices.
In a story about people trapped within gigantic systems, more silence and more moments of genuine discomfort would have been welcome. Madison provides some of that with her performance, but the script usually fills those gaps with words.
Technical specifications of The Price of Power
- Title: The Price of Power
- Release date: October 9, 2026
- Country: United States
- Duration: 112 minutes
- Screenplay and direction: Aaron Sorkin
- Cast: Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong, Betty Gilpin, Bill Burr, Portia Doubleday
- Genre: Drama, political thriller, journalism, technology
Final verdict
The Price of Power has fascinating material, a cast that works, and a narrative capable of organizing a lot of information without feeling heavy in its just under two hours. But the more relevant the story is, the more noticeable it becomes that the staging is not always on par with the content.
Mikey Madison is the one who best overcomes that limitation, turning corporate conflict into something personal, while Jeremy Allen White provides the serenity needed to balance the whole. Jeremy Strong delivers an interesting performance as Zuckerberg, although he ends up being more useful as a symbol than as a complex dramatic figure. The result is an entertaining and well-acted film, though with a visual ceiling that leaves the feeling that its story deserved more daring staging.
Frequently asked questions
What is The Price of Power about? The film tells the story of how Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee, leaked internal documents to journalist Jeff Horwitz of The Wall Street Journal, revealing how the platform's algorithms favored confrontation and radicalization.
Who directs and writes the film? Aaron Sorkin wrote and directed the film, sixteen years after writing The Social Network.
Who are the protagonists? The main cast consists of Mikey Madison as Frances Haugen, Jeremy Allen White as Jeff Horwitz, and Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg, along with Betty Gilpin, Bill Burr, and Portia Doubleday.
Is it a sequel to The Social Network? No. There is no direct narrative connection, although both share Aaron Sorkin and the Facebook universe, taking place in different stages of the company's history.
How long is The Price of Power and when is it released? The film is 112 minutes long and arrived in theaters on October 9, 2026.
Does Jeremy Strong imitate Jesse Eisenberg's performance? No. Strong builds his own version of Mark Zuckerberg, colder and more distant, deliberately avoiding repeating the tone of Eisenberg's performance in The Social Network.
