“Primetime,” a brand new satire-thriller in regards to the days when “To Catch a Predator” dominated the airwaves, needs to make you chortle and squirm. It is a feel-bad film loaded with slick type and that includes a dynamic, magnetic central efficiency which you can’t look away from. It is strategy is often murky and muddy, and but, it attracts us in with a poisonous cocktail of darkish comedy and discomfort.
The TV panorama drastically modified within the early 2000s when actuality tv skilled a growth that altered the course of leisure historical past. Networks got here to like actuality TV as a result of, in comparison with conventional exhibits, it was low-cost to supply, they usually did not have to fret about actors and writers who had been members of any pesky unions. Just about each actuality TV present stretched the bounds of excellent style, however that did not matter, as a result of audiences could not get sufficient of this televised junk meals. It was rubbernecking leisure: we could not look away from the wreckage. We needed wreckage.
Out of this primordial slop crawled “To Catch a Predator,” a “Dateline NBC” present wherein suspected pedophiles had been lured to homes underneath the idea that they’d be partaking in intercourse (or, to be extra particular, rape) with minors, solely to be confronted by charismatic host Chris Hansen. It was an immensely darkish, disturbing premise, and but “To Catch a Predator” grew to become a popular culture phenomenon and was even exploited for absurd humor by late evening comedy hosts. Hansen grew to become a star. After which all of it got here crashing down. Type of.
Primetime covers comparable floor because the documentary Predators
Whereas the unique “To Catch a Predator” is gone, Hansen remains to be doing his factor elsewhere, and unscrupulous YouTubers have stolen his act to do their very own beginner pedophile catching exhibits on-line. Many of those revelations had been detailed in David Osit’s wonderful, unsettling 2025 documentary “Predators,” which delved into the “To Catch a Predator” phenomenon and dared to recommend that perhaps, simply perhaps, the present was a nasty factor.
That is slippery floor to stroll on, as a result of within the eyes of many, criticizing “To Catch a Predator” is tantamount to saying you sympathize with pedophiles. So what if Hansen and his crew’s strategies weren’t all the time on the extent? They had been turning a highlight on doubtlessly harmful intercourse criminals. Is not that price a morally doubtful strategy? Osit’s doc highlighted the conflicting truths that many of those predators had been abhorrent and that “To Catch a Predator” was inherently repulsive on an moral stage (to not point out a authorized one: most of the suspected pedophiles Hansen and firm caught finally walked away with none prison fees).
Whereas “Predators” was introspective and reflective, Lance Oppenheim’s “Primetime,” which is overlaying comparable floor, is manic and unhinged. Maybe too unhinged. Forgoing any semblance of subtlety, “Primetime” is an unnerving mix of satire and thriller, targeted on Chris Hansen as performed by an electrical, scary Robert Pattinson. Whereas the Hansen on “Predator” had a sort of clean huckster’s attraction, Pattinson performs him as an empty shell in quest of excessive rankings. He is aware of all the suitable phrases to say to promote his present as a righteous quest to conquer evil, however you get the impression that he would not truly consider what he is saying. The truth is, he may not consider in something. He simply needs to succeed.
Robert Pattinson is unimaginable in Primetime
Pattinson, who’s having one hell of a yr, has develop into a must-see actor, all the time handing over a efficiency tinged with a sort of weirdness that feels acceptable to no matter character he is likely to be taking part in. He is primarily the primary motive to look at “Primetime,” which is engrossing and disturbing however by no means fairly as considerate correctly. Ajon Singh’s script feels prefer it’s solely scratching the floor and that there is a lot extra to be mentioned. On the identical time, “Primetime” hits a singular, queasy mix of darkish, darkish humor and dangerous vibes; by the point the movie ended, I confess I felt sort of depressing. That is complimentary. I feel.
Oppenheim and cinematographer David Bolen pull out all of the stops to provide “Primetime” a textured, sickly look, stuffed with harsh blues that appear to invoke the lighting of TVs beaming out photos in darkened bedrooms. Quite a few excessive close-ups create discomfort, forcing us to rise up shut and private with topics we need to get far, far-off from. It makes for a captivating viewing expertise, however I am fairly positive none of it will work as properly with out Pattinson.
The opposite forged members of Primetime are nice, too
Pattinson is backed up by a wonderful forged, all of whom are doing sturdy work right here. The always-welcomed Merritt Wever is characteristically nice as Andie, the present’s producer who is consistently chomping on gum and is likely to be much more morally bankrupt than Hansen, though she would not appear practically as unhinged as he’s. There’s an fascinating, if undercooked, storyline right here the place Andie has a possibility to depart “Predator” to work on one thing extra uplifting. In the end, she states: “I do not need to.”
Whereas Pattinson’s Hansen is the massive draw, he is a sort of co-lead character, sharing the highlight with struggling actor Dan Plumb, performed by Skyler Gisondo. Dan lands a gig as a decoy on “Predator,” pretending to be an underage boy to lure in pedophiles. Dan appears to be essentially the most morally conflicted character right here, and Gisondo is sympathetic as he performs the character struggling to each do a great job whereas additionally feeling rotten about the entire expertise.
Who’s Chris Hansen?
Dan appears to be the one character right here with one thing resembling an actual arc, however it’s Pattinson’s Hansen who sucks up all of the oxygen within the room, rising more and more extra unhinged and determined as he tries to get higher rankings and beat “Misplaced,” which is airing on the identical time (on one other community) as “Predator.”
However who’s Chris Hansen? At the least, who’s the fictionalized Chris Hansen we see in “Primetime”? I am unsure even Hansen is aware of. Does he have any actual feelings or emotions past insecurity (there is a operating gag the place Hansen is seethingly jealous of respectable newsman Stone Phillips, performed by Invoice Heck) and a thirst for achievement?
He has a spouse and youngsters, however it’s unclear how he feels about them, if he feels something in any respect. In a hilariously bizarre scene, Hansen returns house late one evening and wakes his two sons as much as power them to look at an episode of his present. He needs them to be impressed. His unusual spouse (an underutilized Anna Faris) floats via their home like a ghost, and it is no shock after we be taught that Hansen has been untrue to her. However even his infidelity looks like an act; he is merely going via the motions of a human being with out understanding what they imply. He has a household as a result of that is what regular folks do. He has affairs as a result of that is what celebrities do. However does he put any thought into any of this?
Primetime will make you uncomfortable, and that is the purpose
“Primetime” retains your consideration because it lurches in direction of a seemingly inevitable conclusion. Different films have lined comparable territory in additional profitable methods — “Community,” “Nightcrawler,” and many others. — however the slick, sick type of “Primetime” mixed with Pattinson’s gonzo efficiency get the job achieved. Oppenheim additionally finds methods to blur truth and fiction, like having former NBC programming head Jeff Zucker play himself.
Anybody frightened that the movie would go gentle on the themes of “To Catch a Predator” can put these considerations to relaxation. “Primetime” has no actual sympathy for its potential predators. It has no sympathy for anybody concerned on this story, actually. At one level, Hansen tells Dan about an historic, evil darkness that has been spreading eternally. By the point “Primetime” ends, that darkness has seemingly swallowed every part, even whereas underneath the tough glare of TV lights.
/Movie Score: 7.5 out of 10
“Primetime” opens in theaters on September 25, 2026.
