The Social Network (2010) Revisit ft. Peterson W. Hill

Original Episode: #34 The Social Network (2010) ft. Brendan Kumarasamy (released September 23, 2020)

New Episode: #274 The Social Network (2010) Revisit ft. Peterson W. Hill (released August 13, 2025)

Guest:

• Peterson W. Hill - Co-Host of the War Starts at Midnight podcast

  • @petersonwhill on IG, Letterboxd, and Twitter

  • Previous Guest on Gone Girl (2014), Parasite (2019), Fight Club (1999), Ben-Hur (1959), Up in the Air (2009), The Shop Around the Corner (1940), La Dolce Vita (1960)

Cast:

• David Fincher, Director

• Aaron Sorkin, Writer

• Jeff Cronenweth, Cinematography

• Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Music

• Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg

• Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin

• Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker

• Armie Hammer as Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss

• Max Minghella as Divya Narendra

• Brenda Song as Christy Lee

• Rashida Jones as Marylin Delpy

• John Getz as Sy

• David Selby as Gage

• Denise Grayson as Gretchen

• Douglas Urbanski as Larry Summers

• Rooney Mara as Erica Albright

• Joseph Mazzello as Dustin Moskovitz

Background:

• The Social Network was released on October 1, 2010.

• On a budget of $40 million, it would go on to gross $224.9 million finishing as the 32nd highest film at the worldwide box office for 2010.

• The Social Network received widespread critical acclaim, appeared on over 70 critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2010, and won Best Picture from the National Board of Review, National Society of Film Critics, New York Film Critics Circle, and Los Angeles Film Critics Association, making it only the third film in history—after Schindler's List (1993) and L.A. Confidential (1997)—to sweep the "Big Four" critics awards.

• It went on to receive 8 Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Best Director (Fincher), and Best Actor (Eisenberg), Cinematography, and Sound Mixing, and won for Best Adapted Screenplay (Sorkin), Best Original Score (Reznor and Ross), and Best Film Editing.

• Following the close of the decade, The Social Network was recognized as one of the best films of the 2010s. Metacritic reported that it was listed on over 30 film critics' top-ten lists for the 2010s, including eight first-place rankings and four second-place rankings.

• Esquire named The Social Network the best of the 2010s, calling it Citizen Kane "for the Internet age" and dubbing it "the movie of our new millennium".

• In June 2025, the film ranked number 10 on both The New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century" . In July 2025, it ranked number 13 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century."

• In January 2019, Aaron Sorkin revealed that Scott Rudin has suggested the development of a screenplay for a sequel, noting, "A lot of very interesting, dramatic stuff has happened since the movie ends." On April 26, 2024, Sorkin said he had been working on the script for a new Facebook movie tied to the January 6 United States Capitol attack. On June 25, 2025, it was announced that a sequel, The Social Network Part II, was in active development with Sorkin returning to write and direct. Reports of potential casting included Mikey Madison as Frances Haugen and Jeremy Allen White as Jeff Horwitz, although no official deal has been made yet. Jeremy Strong was also being reported to be in talks for a role, speculated to be either a WSJ editor or to replace Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg.

• The Social Network currently holds a 96% among critics on RT, a 95 score on Metacritic, and a 3.9/5 on Letterboxd.

Plot Summary: The Social Network dramatizes the turbulent origins of Facebook, tracing its rise from a dorm room project to a global tech empire. The story centers on Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), whose brilliance and ambition lead him to create a revolutionary social networking site. But as Facebook explodes in popularity, personal relationships unravel and legal battles erupt. Former friends and collaborators—including Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), and the Winklevoss twins (Armie Hammer)—clash over ownership, betrayal, and the blurred lines between genius and opportunism. It’s a tale of innovation, ego, and the cost of success in the digital age.

Did You Know?:

• During one of the depositions, it is mentioned that the invention of Facebook made Mark Zuckerberg "the biggest thing on a campus that included nineteen Nobel Laureates, fifteen Pulitzer Prize winners, two future Olympians, and a movie star." One of the lawyers then asks, "Who was the movie star?" and the response is, "Does it matter?" This movie star was, in fact, Natalie Portman, who was enrolled at Harvard as a junior and senior when Mark Zuckerberg was a freshman. She invited Aaron Sorkin to a dinner party with her Harvard friends to provide him insider information on the school's social life at the time Facebook was created.

• After casting, David Fincher forbade principal actors from meeting their real-life counterparts until filming was completed.

• Andrew Garfield came into rehearsal with a copy of Economics for Dummies. Inspired by that move, Jesse Eisenberg bought C++ for Dummies. According to Eisenberg, both he and Garfield read the introductions of their books and then put them down.

• The song that plays during the opening credits is only played two more times during the film, and each time, Trent Reznor recorded the piano from farther away, giving it the illusion of echoing and isolation in the final cut.

• The real Lawrence Summers called the film's portrayal of his meeting with the Winkelvoss twins "fairly accurate". He went on to say "I've heard it said that I can be arrogant. If that's true, I surely was on that occasion. One of the things you learn as a college president is that if an undergraduate is wearing a tie and jacket on Thursday afternoon at three o'clock, there are two possibilities. One is that they're looking for a job and have an interview; the other is that they are an asshole. This was the latter case. Rarely have I encountered such swagger, and I tried to respond in kind."

The Stanley Rubric:

Original Legacy Score: 8

New Legacy Score: 9

Original Impact/Significance Score: 8

New Impact/Significance Score: 9

Original Novelty Score: 8.33

New Novelty Score: 9

Original Classicness Score: 8.83

New Classicness Score: 6

Original Rewatchability Score: 6.5

New Rewatchability Score: 8.33

Original Audience Score: 8.6 (86% RT)

New Audience Score: 8.5 (83% Google, 87% RT)

Original Total Score: 48.26 (#95 currently)

New Total Score: 49.83

In Memorium:

• Loni Anderson, 79, American actress (known for WKRP in Cincinnati, Stroker Ace)

• Kelley Mack, 33, American actress (known for The Walking Dead)