Movie Review: ‘Primetime’ | Moviefone

Robert Pattinson as Chris Hansen in 'Primetime'. Photo: A24. — Robert Pattinson as Chris Hansen in ‘Primetime’. Photo: A24.

Opening in theaters on September 25 is ‘Primetime,’ directed by Lance Oppenheim and starring Robert Pattinson, Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, Phoebe Bridgers, Matthew Maher, Anna Faris, Bokeem Woodbine, Tony Revolori, and Alex Winter.

Primetime

“Are you ready to make television history?”

Release Sep 25, 2026Runtime 1h 49mBudget $15M

Related Article: 20 Best Robert Pattinson Movies of All Time, Including ‘Primetime’

Initial Thoughts

Chris Hansen is arguably one of the most influential investigative journalists and TV personalities of the 21st century, mainly thanks to his ‘Dateline’ segment, ‘To Catch a Predator.’ For three seasons, Hansen used sting operations to catch online predators (older men seeking out teenage girls), becoming both a major celebrity for his work and raising ethical and legal questions.

While Hansen continues his career today, the ‘Predator’ years are the subject of ‘Primetime,’ the first narrative feature from documentary filmmaker Lance Oppenheim. Built around an escalating, chaotic performance from Robert Pattinson, ‘Primetime’ is what Oppenheim himself has called a ‘fever dream’ of a movie. Fever or not, you might feel like you need a cold shower after watching this grimy satire.

Story and Direction

(L to R) Robert Pattinson and Tony Revolori in 'Primetime'. Photo: A24. — (L to R) Robert Pattinson and Tony Revolori in ‘Primetime’. Photo: A24.

It’s 2006 and ‘To Catch a Predator’ is at the peak of its success, with Hansen a household name thanks to the show’s sting operations. A member of Hansen’s team who can pass for a minor engages with a man looking for sex on the internet, eventually coaxing the mark into visiting them at ‘home,’ an apartment or house that ‘Predator’ producer Andie Bender (Merritt Wever) rents out for the occasion. There they’re confronted by Hansen, who lets them know they’re being filmed for TV before stepping aside for the cops that the team has called in advance.

Hansen and crew win a coveted prime time slot on the NBC schedule, but network head Jeff Zucker (playing himself) immediately pressures them to deliver big enough to beat ‘Lost’ in the ratings. Already narcissistic and self-important (‘guy thinks he’s f**king Mike Wallace,’ grumbles one control room tech), Hansen grows paranoid and obsessive; as his marriage (disappointingly underdeveloped, with Anna Faris wasted as his wife) rumbles and a tabloid threatens to expose an affair he’s had, he becomes fixated on landing ‘the whale,’ a target in the higher reaches of government or law.

Director Lance Oppenheim on the set of 'Primetime'. Photo: A24. — Director Lance Oppenheim on the set of ‘Primetime’. Photo: A24.

As history shows, the results are ultimately tragic, and that’s where the rubber meets the road in ‘Primetime.’ Initially a character study of Hansen, as well as Bender and the newest member of the team, a would-be actor named Dan Plum (Skyler Gisondo) who takes over as their main decoy, the film starts out as surprisingly funny satire, before turning into a darker exploration of morality, ethics, and our pervasive culture of ‘gotcha’ journalism and reality TV.

It doesn’t always work quite well, however. Oppenheim has trouble finding the right tonal balance and the screenplay (by Ajon Singh) finds itself stuck on repeat for a good portion of the middle act. But it’s still fascinatingly grubby, with Oppenheim and cinematographer David Bolen using dozens of different film and video stocks to capture the sense of cameras running everywhere, all the time, from low-fi to hi-def. The results are strange, intrusive, and sometimes off-putting (not to mention eerily murky and shot through with vivid splashes of garish color), providing emotional distance even while making an era just 20 years in the past seem like a timeless nightmare.

Cast and Performances

Robert Pattinson continues a killer year (with ‘The Drama’ and ‘The Odyssey’ already under his belt and ‘Dune: Part Three’ yet to come) with one of his most complex and wildly bold performances to date. His Hansen is always selling you something (usually himself), even off-camera, despite saying at one point, ‘Nothing I do is acting.’ Pattinson has got the flat, nasal twang down, becoming increasingly unbearable as he becomes drunk with his own power while the pressure and the ethical questions get to him. In the end he’s a man with no control over the train to which he’s hitched his fate.

The always excellent Merritt Wever gives another sterling characterization as Andee. She perfectly embodies the producer, overseeing every aspect of the show while babysitting her star and going after their targets with relish – not because she’s necessarily into the justice of it all, but because it will land them big ratings. The movie, however, eventually becomes about Dan (a fictional version of a ‘Predator’ decoy), whose wide-eyed innocence turns to aggressive ambition and then revolted self-disgust, encapsulating the feelings engendered by what ‘Predator’ does.

Also noteworthy are Tony Revolori (‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’) as a distraught target with the online handle MarriedAndLookingForFun31313, and Matthew Maher as Xavier Von Erck, the founder of activist organization Perverted-Justice. The creepy Von Erck helps track online predators for the show, but increasingly seems like he could end up a target.

Final Thoughts

Although it paints a damning portrait of a flashpoint moment in the modern era of reality TV and surveillance disguised as entertainment, one could argue that ‘Primetime’ doesn’t dig deep enough at the wounds; we found ourselves pulling away from the story as it draws toward the shattering events of its conclusion, not least because the continually shape-shifting image becomes harder and harder to actually see at times.

Even if it doesn’t say anything new about the corrosive nature of this kind of programming or the moral questions it raises about entrapment, coercion, and the sensationalization of crime (despite the despicable nature of most of the men ‘Predator’ caught), ‘Primetime’ is scabrously funny enough to expose the circus-like nature of the whole thing and the chaos it wreaks – even on the souls of those helping rid the internet of monsters.

‘Primetime’ receives a score of 75 out of 100.

'Primetime' opens in theaters on September 25th. — ‘Primetime’ opens in theaters on September 25th.

What is the plot of ‘Primetime’?

In 2006, as his show ‘To Catch a Predator’ becomes a flashpoint for ‘gotcha’ culture and stretches the boundaries of reality TV, host Chris Hansen sets out to make television history.