Lance Oppenheim’s “Primetime” (2026), like “To Catch A Predator” — the reality television show whose rise and fall it details — is bound to prove a divisive staple of 2020s cinema. The film is both an intimate character study and an epic narrative of good versus evil; both a madcap dash through the show’s history and a tense, anxious slow burn; both a period piece of the early 21st century and an examination of the state of media as we know it today. It is these contradictions that characterize “Primetime” and make it somehow wholly enjoyable and completely repulsive all at once.
“Primetime” is notably Oppenheim’s feature film debut. Prior to this endeavor, the filmmaker had only worked on documentaries. One might think a documentarian’s gaze would lend itself to the direction of a biopic, but “Primetime” makes no attempt to be objective. For proof, look no further than Robert Pattinson as Chris Hansen, whose portrayal of the show’s host is so far divorced from actual human behavior that it verges on cartoonish. Over the course of the film, we see him grow increasingly frantic and resort to wilder and more desperate measures as he scrabbles to cling to the coveted 9 p.m. primetime slot.
This frenzied energy is not a blunder on Pattinson’s part — the performance is among his all-time best — nor on the filmmaker’s. In seeing the events of “Primetime” unfold before your eyes, it’s clear Oppenheim knew exactly what he was doing with his portrayal of Hansen. The character is less a journalist, or even a television personality, and more of a carnival barker ushering people in to witness his freak show. The first shot, in fact, is an extreme close-up on Pattinson’s face as his Hansen recites a calming pre-show mantra: the explicit chat messages which he plans to read out to the predator when he confronts them.
Pattinson’s performance is offbeat, slimy, and designed to make the viewer uncomfortable, a theme echoed in many other choices throughout the movie. For example, Hansen’s main theme is written in an unsteady, anxious 5/4; the camera angles are erratic and claustrophobic; and the vibrant colors gradually bleed as if the film itself is rotting. Its atmosphere perfectly captures the experience of watching “To Catch a Predator” as a whole: captivated yet appalled, stirring a sick enjoyment in viewers.
Though Chris Hansen doesn’t change much throughout the narrative, starting and ending the story with the same exploitative mindset, “Primetime” also examines the effects of such an unscrupulous program on the rest of the crew. Notable examples include Skyler Gisondo as actor Dan Plum — a newly hired “decoy” for the show (loosely based on Dan Schrack) — and Merritt Wever as producer Andie Bender, a fictional composite of numerous real figures. The film depicts how both initially approach the show from a principled perspective, convinced that, despite some unethical practices, the program is doing good for the world. But as they converse and collaborate with Hansen, their moral compasses waver and eventually break down when confronted with the possibilities of fame and success.
Films based around historical events are often made complicated when the figures involved are still around to comment. In the case of “Primetime,” the real Chris Hansen certainly had a lot to say. “It was so bizarre and so in-and-out of reality,” he said on his YouTube channel the Friday of the film’s release. “[The director] wanted to create a horror-like film with interesting photography and didn’t want to hear anything else … [he] didn’t want to have his mind polluted by anything positive that this actually achieved over the last 22 years.”
It’s clear that for Chris Hansen, both the real one and Pattinson’s portrayal, the ends justify the means. But aside from the rapid influx of ratings, it’s not quite clear why he started the show — an uncertainty that carries dramatization of the events in “Primetime.” To hear him tell it in the film, “To Catch A Predator” is a mere part of Hansen’s righteous quest to cleanse the world of evil.
Hansen elaborates on this mission in a spine-chilling segment where he recounts his (semi-fictional) journeys through India investigating a string of disappearances. According to him, he encountered a supernatural “ancient evil” there, which, he believes, still pervades society. In response, Plum comments “[The ancient evil] is an Indian guy?” — this was one of a few instances where the film’s attempt at humor lost me. (The movie is explicitly a dark comedy, but on occasion the comments on predators’ behavior bordered on smarminess that didn’t land for me.)
The narrative culminates in a gripping sequence where the “To Catch A Predator” team locates and confronts their biggest catch yet — their “whale,” as Hansen calls it. For him and the rest of the team, it’s the last, most desperate gambit to ensure the show remains on the air. But the sting ends in disaster, and Hansen is forced to reckon with the tragedy his show has caused. Both he and the audience are made to reconsider his foundational creed, and the premise of the show: “What would have happened if I wasn’t here?”
It’s a rare treat to see a movie that entertains and repulses you in equal measure, but I believe “Primetime” strikes that delicate balance masterfully. I highly recommend catching it in theatres to anyone who’s drawn to Robert Pattinson, “To Catch A Predator,” psychological crime thrillers, or any mix of the three.
