The Social Network ending wraps up its multiple storylines about Facebook’s formation and leaves Mark Zuckerberg as unsettled as he was at the beginning. The 2010 David Fincher movie tells a dramatized story of the creation of Facebook based on Ben Mezrich’s non-fiction novel The Accidental Billionaires. The Social Network‘s true story adaptation focuses on the few relationships Mark creates and destroys in his bid to stand out among Harvard’s other brilliant students by creating TheFacebook. The Social Network ends on a relatively inconsequential cliffhanger; however, it highlights how Mark’s feelings don’t mutate despite the major events altering his life.

Indeed, The Social Network ends on an odd note, with a second-year ᴀssociate correctly predicting how things will fare for Mark in both lawsuits against him rather than seeing the outcomes. This hints at the story at The Social Network’s center possibly being more about all those whom Mark alienates in his pursuit of Facebook’s development than about the company’s growth. The main events shown in the movie don’t necessarily follow the platform’s milestones, instead proving catalysts for Mark’s multiple falling outs. The Social Network‘s ending brilliantly resolves the arcs while providing a cautionary message.

Mark & Marilyn’s Talk Reveals The Movie’s Message

Mark’s Ambition Left Him Alone With His Friendships Destroyed

Rather than ending along with the proceedings, The Social Network’s conclusion is brought on by the day’s end, right after a straightforward conversation between Mark and a second-year ᴀssociate on his legal team, Marilyn Delpy. By predicting that Mark’s team will eventually propose a settlement agreement to him that Mark should pursue, Marilyn essentially reveals to the audience what is going to happen, providing the story’s closure.

However, the advice coming from Marilyn right after Eduardo Saverin’s emotional reveal about his shares being diluted shows how The Social Network was less about Facebook’s creation and more about Mark and Eduardo’s friendship ending up being destroyed by it. Apart from The Social Network’s initial scene with Erica Albright’s brutal rejection, Eduardo is there for Mark every step of the way, even backing Mark’s Facemash idea and helping him build it despite believing its fallout to be mostly negative.

Eduardo’s final deposition in The Social Network recounts the moment his friendship with Mark ended, as he stopped giving his friend the benefit of the doubt because he’d been burned by him. That the day ends with a deposition detailing Mark betraying Wardo and Mark’s subsequent disenchantment with Sean Parker shows how The Social Network focused on the two real-life characters, with Mark ending up alone at the film’s end.

Eduardo Freezing The Account Proved The Last Straw In His Friendship With Mark

Eduardo & Mark’s Unspoken Rivalry Resulted In A Major Fallout

Mark and Eduardo’s friendship took many hits throughout The Social Network, but it could have never survived Eduardo’s impulsive decision to close the bank account he created to support Facebook. Although the rash action was a last plea to make himself heard by Mark, who had been favoring Sean Parker’s suggestions over Eduardo’s, it could have deeply hurt Facebook, prompting Mark’s trick that eventually diluted Eduardo’s shares to 0.03 from 34 percent. The end of Eduardo and Mark’s friendship couldn’t have been more explosive, but it was stealthily hinted at throughout The Social Network.

Mark and Eduardo never outright acknowledged their rivalry, but subtle details were introduced that hinted at it, becoming more and more evident as The Social Network proceeded. Wardo sharing the news of his advancements with the Phoenix was met twice with Mark’s offhanded comments, congratulating him but simultaneously reminding Eduardo he probably wouldn’t be accepted.

Mark’s attempts to veer off Eduardo’s expansion plan for Facebook and use Sean’s suggestions similarly resulted in Eduardo’s snide dismissal of Sean. This all contributed to a rift in their friendship, worsening more and more without the two trying to mend it until it made their relationship implode with the shares’ dilution ordeal.

Sean’s Police Troubles Proved Eduardo’s Mistrust Right In The End

Eduardo Never Trusted Sean’s Reliability

The Social Network’s ending proved both Mark and Eduardo right in their opposite ᴀssessments of Sean. Mark being so captivated by Sean’s big ideas that he decided to move the company to Palo Alto without even sleeping on it caused the biggest rift in his friendship with Eduardo. This came after their friendship was already put to test by his refusal to share about the cease-and-desist letter by the Winklevoss brothers.

However, Eduardo’s initial ᴀssessment of Sean also proved right after Sean started spewing the same Case Equity suspicions toward Eduardo after his sparty was stopped by the police and they found drugs, leading to Sean’s arrest. Indeed, Eduardo saw through Sean’s compelling tales and charm, disagreeing about the expansion plans for Facebook but never losing the clarity to see him as a wild card, because of how charming but also unreliable he was.

His arrest and excuses about the party finally showed Mark what Eduardo always saw in Sean — his essential untrustworthiness. Even if Sean’s plans eventually brought on Facebook’s success, his arrest unequivocally proved to Mark that he couldn’t really trust Sean as he did Wardo, because he was fundamentally a wild card in every sense of the word.

The Social Network’s Ending Shows The Winklevoss Brothers Don’t Get What They Wanted

Cameron & Tyler Winklevoss Didn’t Get The Recognition They Desired

The Winklevoss true story differs from The Social Network, but its fictionalized version still doesn’t let them truly win in the end. The greatest motivation leading Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss to contact Harvard, accuse Mark of stealing their Harvard Connection idea with TheFacebook, and send the cease-and-desist letter was to ensure other students knew it was their idea first.

While The Social Network’s ending reveals the Winklevoss brothers got $65 million from the settlement, it also highlights how they signed an NDA, which would essentially stop their talking about the ordeal. This makes their initial goals unmet, as what they originally wanted was recognition, not money.

The Social Network Ends As It Started For Mark — With Him Left Out Despite His Success

Mark Is Still The Outcast Despite His Wealth & Accomplishments

The Social Network ends as it starts in regard to Mark’s feelings. From Erica to Wardo, Mark cyclically goes through being left alone by someone who cared about him, even with Facebook’s success bringing him to the highest highs in other parts of his life. While Marilyn’s ᴀssessment of his not being “an a**hole, just trying so hard to be” aimed to soften the blow, Mark still finds himself completely alone and without loved ones, due to his disproportionate or deceiving actions destroying his closest relationships.

The Social Network’s ending might state how rich and successful he is, but Mark still finds himself feverishly refreshing Erica’s Facebook page to see if she accepted his friend request, locked out of his previous human connections.

What The Social Network’s Ending Really Means

Money & Power Didn’t Rid Mark Of His Insecurities & Flaws

The Social Network opens with Erica Albright’s scathing evaluation of Mark, brought forth by Mark’s insulting remarks. However, his attempts at connecting with her despite the showdown of epic proportions at The Social Network’s beginning hints he might have believed Erica’s ᴀssessment. Every time Mark approached her in The Social Network, he never apologized for his past behavior, instead trying to connect with Erica in any way possible.

Mark frantically refreshing the page after sending her a Facebook friend request while The Social Network ends perfectly exemplifies that no matter his objective success, he still fears her thoughts about him might be true. As Mark repeatedly ignores Erica’s wishes not to have anything to do with him, her words at the movie’s beginning echo in his mind, leading him to second-guess himself even as he tells Marilyn he is “not a bad guy.”

Mark’s relentless failed attempts to be accepted by Erica hint that she might still ignore him, but the audience doesn’t know that for sure, as the movie ends with him still continuing to refresh the page. This highlights even more how The Social Network’s cliffhanger ending means Mark is still trying to be accepted by Erica, scared about her ᴀssessment of him to be the truth.

How The Social Network Ending Was Received

The Social Network’s Ending Was Hailed As A Perfect Conclusion

The Social Network‘s ending has helped to solidify the movie as one of the best of the 21st century and many critics agree that the final scene is a perfect conclusion to this story of Mark Zuckerberg. Some reviewers have pointed out the sad and clever irony the movie nails with these final moments that link the idea of someone who has made so many enemies while building an online community that would bring so many people together. Maya Phillips with the New York Times writes:

At the end of the movie, Mark sits alone in the boardroom after a long day of lawyers and questions. He finds his ex’s profile and tries to friend her, refreshing the page over and over again. He built a whole social media empire from his bitterness after their breakup, thinking that he was owed this relationship, this affection. But the very site he created for people to connect leaves him feeling even more disconnected — from her, from his friends and from everyone else.

Another review takes a more sympathetic look at Mark as a character, seeing the potential for change, even if it does seem impossible. The idea of Mark returning to Erica again at the end of the movie is not just about the wound of rejection, but also the idea of showing this person he has wronged that he is not as bad as she thinks. Tim Brayton with Alternate Ending shares:

Zuckerberg wants to be a good, beloved guy – he’s just too broken to know how to go about doing that (the final scene of the movie plays with this idea both for pathos and sarcasm, in the exact same instant).

In writing about the film, Todd McCarthy at IndieWire offered some high praise in comparing The Social Network to one of the most acclaimed movies of all time, Citizen Kane. The ending of Citizen Kane reveals that a rich media tycoon’s dying words referred to his boyhood sled, offering an iconic ending that spoke so much to the character’s journey. While McCarthy acknowledges the changes The Social Network makes to Mark Zuckerberg’s story, specifically relating to the ficтιтious Erica, he finds that these changes allow the movie to deliver an ending worth of Citizen Kane:

[T]his construct by Sorkin enables the writer to create a Rosebud ending for “Network.” And, fundamentally, both Kane and Zuckerberg are men (or characters) with whom friendship may be a one-way street, as Jed Leland and now Eduardo Saverin discover to their peril.