There’s a moment in “The Social Reckoning” when a character cites Antigone, John Proctor, “A Tale of Two Cities,” Gandalf and Chicken Little, all in the same sentence; in other words, this is an Aaron Sorkin movie, for better or worse. The writer/director’s famous verbosity is on full display in this sort-of sequel to 2010’s “The Social Network,” which was written by Sorkin and directed by David Fincher. You miss Fincher’s stabilizing presence here; Sorkin can’t always get past his instinct to turn everything into fast-talking screwball comedy, and “The Social Reckoning,” while never less than watchable and occasionally mesmerizing, is littered with throwaway lines that lie there on the floor, unnecessary and quickly forgotten.

Beneath all the talking, there’s an irresistible based-on-fact story here. Taking place mostly from 2019 to 2021 (Sorkin jumps us around the time period, often confusingly), it follows Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White, of “The Bear”), a tech reporter at The Wall Street Journal’s San Francisco bureau who’s chasing Silicon Valley rumors that Facebook’s algorithms are being used to shape user experiences in damaging ways. His suspicions are confirmed by Frances Haugen (a miscast Mikey Madison, “Anora”), a Facebook employee and reluctant whistleblower. The two uncover evidence together, while Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (Jeremy Strong, “Succession”) tries to hold a firm line while facing accusations of Facebook spreading false information during the presidential election. “I am a free speech absolutist,” he insists, his face as still as a blank computer screen.

It’s Strong’s performance that stays with you, though White has an engaging dog-with-a-bone quality that works for his character, and he and Madison occasionally click amusingly. Madison, alas, seems too young for her role, and her naturalistic delivery occasionally trips up on Sorkin’s wall-of-text dialogue. (Sorkin doesn’t seem particularly interested in Frances as a character, other than dwelling on her habit of wearing gloves, but imagine how different the movie would be with someone like Betty Gilpin — who jumps off the screen in a small role here — playing her.) Strong, though his Zuckerberg bears little resemblance to Jesse Eisenberg’s nervous, fast-talking Mark of “The Social Network,” plays a man who holds himself eerily still and sits almost too upright, with the smirk of someone who no longer needs to listen to anyone else, and doesn’t. He’s fascinating to watch, even as the performance remains one-note; sometimes, one note is all you need.

“The Social Reckoning,” though but a pale shadow of “The Social Network,” moves along snappily (how refreshing to have a prestige movie come in at well under two hours) and provides a welcome, if rather late, warning about the dangers of getting our information from a source not necessarily invested in truth. And this journalist appreciated seeing a tale of a hero journalist, determinedly chasing that truth. “My bias isn’t that tech is taking journalism jobs,” Jeff tells Frances at one point, resignedly. “It’s that you do them so badly.”

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'THE SOCIAL RECKONING'

2.5 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for language)

Running time: 1:52

How to watch: In theaters Oct. 9

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