We live in a time of complicated villains, bad guys with backstories that help us understand how they got to the dark point that we meet them at. So it’s nice to know that this fall, we can all go to theaters and watch some truly unsympathetic baddies: tech billionaires. There are a handful of films set to take on the biggest names in tech this fall, and while some look better and more compelling than others, they all have their sights set on an increasingly despised class of person.
Here’s the fall and winter slate for your fix of techno-negativity.
The Social Reckoning
A sequel/compaion piece to 2010’s The Social Network, The Social Reckoning reconnects with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (this time played by Jeremy Strong, picking up the mantle from Jesse Eisenberg) in 2021 as the company is staring down a leak that threatens to reveal the harmful effects the company’s platforms have on young people.
Premised primarily on the series of stories published by the Wall Street Journal called “The Facebook Files,” the film looks like it’ll follow the relationship between journalist Jeff Horwitz and whistleblower Frances Haugen that ultimately led to the series of stories on how Facebook’s internal studies showed the company was aware of the negative impact it was having on young users.
Strong and his Zuckerberg impression is arguably the main draw here, but Mikey Madison as Haugen and Jeremy Allen White as Horwitz are poster-worthy names. The film is written by Aaron Sorkin, as was The Social Network, but David Fincher isn’t returning to direct this one. Instead, it’ll be Sorkin behind the camera, which…your mileage may vary on how effective that’ll ultimately be. Odds are it’ll be watchable, and Strong will be memeable, and that’s probably worth the price of admission.
The Social Reckoning is in theaters October 9.
You Can See Everything
The secret screening at the Telluride Film Festival didn’t stay secret for very long. You Can See Everything is the secret project of Nathan Fielder, who documented the days leading up to Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes reporting to serve her prison sentence for fraud. The buzz from its debut has been loud, but basically every person who has seen it recommends going in with as little information as possible.
That said, if you’re familiar with Fielder’s work, you can probably get an immediate sense for what the vibe will be. Fielder has mastered the art of swimming in deeply uncomfortable spaces and sitting in silence to let other people fill in the space by surrendering information that you normally couldn’t pry out of them. Elizabeth Holmes made a briefly held fortune off manipulation and a seemingly inexplicable charm. It’s an unstoppable force vs. immovable object situation.
You Can See Everything will be in theaters starting October 16.
Musk
There’s no real explanation needed to say what Musk is about. A documentary helmed by Alex Gibney, the director of Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, the film seeks to figure out what is going on behind the eyes of the richest man in the world and reportedly does not come away particularly impressed.
The entry point for Musk is Elon Musk’s outsized influence on modern life, particularly as he got more involved in politics. It reportedly follows his role in the 2024 presidential election and his efforts with the Department of Government Efficiency inside the second Trump administration. It also deals with his personal life, his relationships (or lack thereof) with the mothers of his children, and the many shady aspects of his companies that keep racking up billions of dollars despite experiencing the types of controversies that would usually stop a business in its tracks.
Musk and its 225-minute runtime will be in theaters starting October 16.
Artificial
A film that almost didn’t exist, Artificial will tell the story of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s rise, ousting, and return to the head of his AI company. Andrew Garfield will take up the role of Altman, and it certainly looks from the trailer like he spent a lot of time studying the CEO’s gait. Luca Guadagnino is at the helm as director, and former Saturday Night Live writer Simon Rich penned the script.
Perhaps the most notable thing about Artificial at this point is the fact that it almost got killed before ever seeing the light of day. Amazon MGM Studios was set to distribute the picture, but backed out just days after Amazon entered into a $50 billion agreement with OpenAI. Rumors also spread that part of the reason for Amazon backing out was the apparently unsympathetic portrayals of Altman and Elon Musk in the movie.
The first trailer for the film just dropped, and it certainly doesn’t seem like the film will have much nice to say about Altman. The vibe is kinda, “What if Oppenheimer knew they were building a bomb and was excited about dropping it, actually?”
Artificial will be in theaters Christmas Day, December 25.
