This was one of the most exciting films to come out of the 2010s,. On paper, a movie about the creation of Facebook and the fight over who actually owned it should’ve been boring. I honestly expected it to be like that. But it completely blew me away.
There are so many reasons why this film hooks you from the first scene to the last, and I want to break down exactly what makes it so unforgettable. So here’s what makes this film work so brilliantly.
Aaron is such a beast! Aaron Sorkin effortlessly writes dialogue like music, but not the soft kind. It’s quick, rhythmic, biting, intellectual, and constantly pushing you forward. That’s skill any filmmaker could ever hope to possess. No one in this film ever pauses.
No one ever says more than they need to. Every word has purpose, intention, and momentum. The characters talk fast because their minds are fast, and that speed pulls you into their world. It just pushes the story forward with pure functionality. How amazing!
So as a person who strongly loves the editing aspect of filmmaking, the music score truly does half of the physiological work, the music matters so much. Watch a horror film on mute and you will see what I mean.
When I used to edit projects, everything finally clicked the moment I placed the sound effects and music. Suddenly the emotions landed. The pacing made sense. The scene came alive.
The people behind the music for social network created a soundtrack that feels haunting and almost thriller like. There was so much tension, anxiety and ambition through the sound!
It really keeps your nervous system slightly activated, which it was absolutely designed to do. The music makes scenes that should be boring feel like a thriller!
The editing in general feels really chaotic, like a brain constantly firing off lol the movie jumps between depositions and flashbacks, weaving timelines like memory itself. That structure alone keeps you alert, your brain is constantly piecing things together.
You’re watching the main character’s downfall and ascent all at the same time which is highly engaging.
Now every film has themes around morality. Sure, on the surface, its about facebook but underneath its really about BETRAYAL, loneliness, wanting to be seen, ambition, losing yourself, things that a lot of normal people can relate to.
You don’t have to be a genius that created an social media app to relate to those things. Films that are releateable usually keeps people watching and in tuned. The movie leaves you thinking about how far people will go to matter. And how much you lose when you stop caring who you hurt. Lessons to be learned here.
The final scene was just genius. Mark, the billionaire creator of Facebook, which was the world’s biggest platform for social connection at that time just sits alone while he refreshes the friend requests of the girlfriend he lost in the very first scene.
That’s the whole film in one moment. Just brilliant, powerful, lonely, disconnected. You really feel it all of those things.
We already knew how the story ends, but we didn’t know the journey along the way.
The film’s holistic blend of writing, pacing, music, acting, and editing keeps our curiosity alive the entire time.
Honestly, Vanessa 