The Social Dilemma
Former Silicon Valley insiders expose how social platforms turn human attention, personal data, and social division into profitable instruments of influence.
Overview
A gripping exploration of how technology manipulates our lives and choices.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- urgent
- sobering
- cautionary
- media literacy discussion
- classroom viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly found the documentary clear, comprehensive, and effective in warning about data mining, addictive platform design, and technology’s social harms, while some faulted its familiar dystopian framing and lack of nuance.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Tristan Harris, Jeff Seibert, Bailey Richardson, Sandy Parakilas, and other former technology employees offer first-person accounts of platform design and its consequences.
The film argues that social networks turn harvested user data and behavioral predictions into commercial power over attention and action.
Expert testimony is intercut with dramatized narrative sequences that personify recommendation algorithms and depict their effects on a family’s teenage son.
Interfaces, notifications, data flows, and dramatized control-room imagery make otherwise unseen mechanisms of persuasion visible.
Films like The Social Dilemma, and why
The Great Hack
Shares an investigative documentary approach, institutional accountability, and concern with technology’s social consequences.
Terms and Conditions May Apply
Shares documentary testimony about surveillance, data exploitation, and the hidden power of digital systems.
Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World
Shares a sobering technology critique and accessible examination of how corporate systems shape public behavior.
Coded Bias
Shares a warning about algorithmic influence, social polarization, and technology-driven manipulation.
Movie Details
- Director
- Jeff Orlowski
- Release Date
- 2020-01-26
- Runtime
- 94 min
- Rating
- 7.5 / 10 (1858)
Cast
- Tristan Harris
- Jeff Seibert
- Bailey Richardson
- Joe Toscano
- Sandy Parakilas
- Guillaume Chaslot
- Lynn Fox
- Aza Raskin
- Alex Roetter
- Tim Kendall
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Social Dilemma about?
- Former Silicon Valley insiders expose how social platforms turn human attention, personal data, and social division into profitable instruments of influence.
- What is The Social Dilemma like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Social Dilemma as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Social Dilemma violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in The Social Dilemma.
- What did critics think of The Social Dilemma?
- Critics broadly found the documentary clear, comprehensive, and effective in warning about data mining, addictive platform design, and technology’s social harms, while some faulted its familiar dystopian framing and lack of nuance.
- Which films are like The Social Dilemma?
- Films with a similar feel include The Great Hack, Terms and Conditions May Apply, Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World, and Coded Bias.
- How long is The Social Dilemma?
- The Social Dilemma runs 94 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Social Dilemma?
- In United States, The Social Dilemma streams on Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads.
Browse Ember's collections
Movies like The Social Dilemma
- The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel2020
- Terms and Conditions May Apply2013
- The Circle2017
- The Social Reckoning2026
- Citizenfour2014
- We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists2012
- Ghost in the Machine2026
- Active Measures2018
- The American Meme2018
- Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World2016
