Social Distance with ‘The Social Network’ on Netflix

Fantastic news for film buffs and bored Netflix users alike! The Social Network is now streaming on Netflix.

The Social Network came out in 2010, at the height of Facebook’s chokehold on global culture. Back then, the social network was seen as a wild success story: a Harvard co-ed named Mark Zuckerberg had built a digital yearbook for college students that exploded into the primary way human beings communicated the world over. This was the time before people were wildly aware of the data mining that Facebook was doing to them and before we learned that misinformation on the app could sway voters’ minds. So, it was a simpler time for Zuckerberg and company.

However, David Fincher’s The Social Network put the first major cynical spin on Zuckerberg and his creation. Working off of a scathing script by Aaron Sorkin, Fincher retold the origin story of Facebook through flashbacks and tense arbitration meetings. The Social Network posited that Zuckerberg wasn’t some noble, industrious genius, but a nerd with a chip on his shoulder. Specifically, he felt at once belittled by the ruling class of elite students who ran Harvard and enraged by his Boston University girlfriend’s decision (early in the film) to dump him. Facebook wasn’t a noble experiment, but a way for Zuckerberg to earn popularity by helping his classmates hookup.

But The Social Network has maintained its hold on audiences a decade later because it’s just that good. It’s a searing look at the petty personalities that built Silicon Valley, as well as a probing meditation on how Facebook, and social networks like it, have managed to grip us so tensely over the years. The film’s opening and closing scenes show Zuckerberg both pushing his girlfriend (Rooney Mara) away and searching to reconnect with her. It is a film about our human addiction to connection, and how the person with the power to provide that has ultimate power over all of us.

The Social Network is also chock full of tremendous performances, whether it’s Jesse Eisenberg’s tetchy take on Mark Zuckerberg or Andrew Garfield’s wounded Eduardo Savarin. Armie Hammer stands out as the Winklevoss twins, and even Justin Timberlake impresses with a truly savage portrayal of Napster founder Sean Parker.

The Social Network is a technical masterpiece that uses director David Fincher’s brand of harsh cynicism to reexamine one of the biggest businesses of the internet age. In the end, it’s not just the billionaire playboys who get dragged, but everyone who’s ever logged onto Facebook in search of likes.

Where to stream The Social Network