The Social Network(2010)

The movie follows a semi-non-linear structure, as the forward-moving plot is periodically intercut with scenes of the two lawsuits Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) found himself involved in: one, filed by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Armie Hammer) and Dyvia Narendra (Max Minghella) for intellectual property theft; the other, by Mark’s former best friend and business partner, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), for being cheated out of his corresponding stock shares due to an investment deal that incorporated the company and diluted his cut, as well as being restored as the co-founder on Facebook’s masthead.

Eduardo was, from the beginning, uneasy of the presence of Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) in the whole endeavour, due to Parker’s negative reputation, the direction Parker was goading Mark to lead the company towards, and also for key decisions that were made over his head and without his consent. Matters come to a head when, upon Eduardo’s return to California for a party intended to celebrate the millionth member, he finds out about the new investment. He confronts and disowns Mark over this and they have a bitter fall-out. Later, Sean is arrested in a police raid over a noise disturbance at a party, in possession of cocaine he was using with some underage Facebook interns. Dejected over this scandal brought upon the company -and realizing how his former best friend was right all the time-, Mark tells Sean to “go home”, thus severing ties with him.

In the end, Mark is informed by Marilyn Delpy (Rashida Jones), a junior attorney working as part of his defense team, that they will come to a settlement agreement on both lawsuits and she shows him how bringing the case to trial would actually be very harmful to himself and the company. In the end, he stays by himself at the firm’s office and is seen trying to “friend” his ex-girlfriend Erica Albright (Rooney Mara) on Facebook, refreshing the page several times without an answer. Title cards inform that the Winklevoss Brothers received $65 million, signed a non-disclosure agreement and competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics; Eduardo settled for a non-disclosed amount and his name was put back on the masthead as co-founder; (up to the movie’s release, in 2010) Facebook had more than 500 million members worldwide and was valued at $25 billion; and Mark was touted was the world’s youngest self-made billionaire.