October is a time for thrillers, and this week’s roundup of new movies and streaming shows is just what you need.
It’s time for Richard Roeper’s weekly take and this week a couple choices may seem a little familiar.
“The Social Reckoning” (in theaters)
Framed as a “companion piece” to David Fincher’s 2010 masterpiece “The Social Network,” this is a solid procedural that is reminiscent of memorable whistleblower films “The Insider” (1999) and “Spotlight” (2015)—though not quite in the same league as those two classics.
Writer/director Aaron Sorkin (who won Best Adapted Screenplay for “The Social Network”) delivers a somber and provocative keyboard thriller brimming with the trademark Sorkin fast-patter dialogue, combining real-life events with imagined conversations and a few flights of poetic license. Mostly, though, “The Social Reckoning” sticks to the foundation of facts surrounding the 2021 Facebook whistleblower scandal. Jeremy Allen White does some of his strongest work outside of “The Bear” as Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz, who teams with Facebook engineer Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison in an endearing and empathetic performance) to expose the social network’s most closely guarded and damning secrets.
Jeremy Strong takes on the role of Mark Zuckerberg originated by Jesse Eisenberg, and as great as Eisenberg was in that performance, I think the casting changeup actually works to the film’s advantage. Whereas Eisenberg perfectly captured Zuckerberg’s raw genius and callow recklessness, Strong embodies the robotically stubborn and mercurial titan who is fully aware of the inherent dangers in some of the policies and algorithms employed by Facebook (and Instagram), and seems unwilling—or unable—to sacrifice even a tiny percentage of profits in the name of truth and decency. The Zuckerberg in “The Social Network” is an anti-hero; the Zuckerberg in “The Social Reckoning” is veering close to comic book villain territory.
At times the proceedings can get a little dry, as Frances goes into the weeds to explain to Jeff (and to us) the intricacies of Facebook’s inner workings. Fortunately, Sorkin is one of the best in the business at turning potentially static scenes into crackling set pieces with dialogue hums. The last 15 minutes of “The Social Reckoning” are anything but subtle and will surely strike some as heavy-handed, but it’s difficult to argue with the essential truths at play here.
3.0 stars
“Carrie” (Prime Video series)
The problem with making a new version of “Carrie” is that pretty much everybody already knows how it ends. From the bullying of Carrie at school through her supernatural awakening to that bucket of blood in the rafters to the horrific, blood-soaked finale—we know that story from Stephen King’s 1974 novel, Brian De Palma’s masterful 1976 film, the 1999 sequel “The Rage: Carrie 2,” the 2002 TV movie, “Carrie: The Musical” and Kimberly Peirce’s 2013 remake.
Still, Mike Flanagan’s eight-part Prime Video adaptation feels new and original because it actually makes great use of that expanded running time to flesh out the back stories of multiple major characters while pumping fresh blood (sorry) into the storyline by modernizing the tale. “Carrie” 2026 remains faithful to the foundation of King’s iconic original novel while doing a deep dive into the chilling powers of social media among today’s teenagers, who live in a world where anonymous Instagram accounts can destroy lives and create chaos. This “Carrie” isn’t primarily interested in scaring us. It is interested in explaining how we got here.
Flanagan, who has successfully adapted King’s “Doctor Sleep” and “Gerald’s Game,” wisely leans into our familiarity with the material. The series begins with the aftermath, using 911 calls and a documentary to reconstruct the night when Chamberlain was consumed by fire. Survivors try to make sense of what happened, including Sue Snell (Siena Agudong), who reminds us that, amid the death and destruction, “we were kids.”
Then we flash back to the beginning.
When conspiracy-minded prepper Ralph White (Tahmoh Penikett) dies in a construction accident, authorities discover the family almost nobody knew existed: his wife Margaret (Samantha Sloyan) and their teenage daughter Carrie (Summer H. Howell), who has been raised in near-total isolation. Margaret must get a job to retain custody, while Carrie is forced to attend Ewing High School, where her lack of knowledge about the outside world immediately makes her a target.
Then comes the locker-room incident. Carrie’s classmates film her humiliation and spread it across the Internet. It’s on.
The performances are uniformly excellent. Amber Midthunder brings warmth and frustration to gym teacher Rita Desjardin, while Tim Bagley is wonderfully sympathetic as guidance counselor Peter Morton, who bonds with Carrie over literature. Matthew Lillard has fun as the ineffectual Principal Grayle, and Alison Thornton is appropriately loathsome as Chris Hargensen. There are plenty of effective scares, dark laughs and beautifully eerie needle drops, but this isn’t the scariest “Carrie.”
It may be the most thoughtful.
3.5 stars
“Below” (Netflix series)
If you’re a fan of “Widow’s Bay,” you’ll notice some superficial similarities between that fantastic series and the equally entertaining “Below.” Both are set in isolated, superstitious, seaside communities, and both feature the ominous threat from something that’s OUT THERE.
But where “Widow’s Bay” leans heavily into supernatural mythology and ancient curses, “Below” reminded me more of “Jaws” than “Widow’s Bay.” You’ve got your greedy business folk who will do anything to keep the tourists coming in for holiday celebrations, you’ve got your gigantic and mysterious creature lurking in the waters, you’ve got your grisly deaths—and you’ve got your local heroes and outside experts who will risk it all to save the day.
I love it.
This six-part thriller is set in the remote Newfoundland fishing community of Snook’s Arm, and kudos to the cast for nailing that unique Newfoundland accent that sounds like a mashup of a poetic Irish lilt and a world-weary Southwest England sailor’s cadence. Josh Hartnett, recently seen flailing about in the hopeless “Verity,” rebounds nicely here with a grounded performance as Calvin Penney, an open-water coastal fisherman and iceberg harvester who is still traumatized by a tragedy from his past. When strange events begin occurring in the water—including an iceberg that shows up overnight—Calvin teams up with marine biologist Fonda Howander (an excellent Mackenzie Davis) to figure out what in the name of colossal cephalopods is happening.
“Below” starts off as a rousing tale of terror in the water but eventually develops into something deeper and more resonant than a glorified B-movie. There are some clever twists and turns along the way, as we enjoy soaking up the atmosphere of the Snook’s Arm community with all its quirky traditions and deep family ties. The ending is just about perfect until it’s not, but I’ll say no more about that. You’ll see what I mean.
3.0 stars
Richard Roeper has reviewed films and TV series for more than 25 years, most notably with the Chicago Sun-Times and on the nationally syndicated “Ebert & Roeper.” Roeper is an entertainment and culture contributor to NBC 5 Chicago. He is the host of the globally popular “The Movie of Your Life” podcast, and he writes reviews for RogerEbert.com.
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