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'Primetime' is a surreal reckoning with reality

'Primetime' is a surreal reckoning with reality <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The first time you see Chris Hansen in action in “Primetime,” he’s framed like God himself.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">We spend a little bit of time with Chris (Robert Pattinson) ahead of this moment, but this marks the first time we see Chris Hansen as we know him, in full “To Catch a Predator” mode. The camera points up at him in awe as he dramatically sweeps the curtain aside and begins slinking his way down the stairs toward the ex-marine (Tony Revolori) who has come to this house today to try and have sex with whom he believes to be a 13-year-old girl.&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">This marks the setup of every episode of “To Catch a Predator,” which ran on NBC from 2004 to 2007. And there is something deeply unsettling about that setup – and somehow, that something doesn’t have much to do with the potential child molester in the room. There’s an artifice to the layout of the house that director Lance Oppenheim calls to attention – the curtain that leads to Chris’ hiding place in lieu of a door, the bar that sits inexplicably in the center of the room. Pattinson captures the rehearsed clip of Hansen’s voice in all its sharp disgust as he begins to list off the terrible, horrifying things that the man in front of him wrote to a child. As he reads off each message, the man begins to sink to the floor. He ends up on his knees in front of Chris – exalting, almost worshiping.&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img src="https://roughdraftatlanta.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/primetime-1024x585.png" alt="Robert Pattinson in "Primetime." (Photo courtesy of A24)" class="wp-image-374272"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Robert Pattinson in "Primetime." (Photo courtesy of A24)</figcaption></figure> </div> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“To Catch a Predator” blurred the lines of reality television and journalism to a disturbing degree. Punishment has existed as a form of entertainment since the advent of public hangings, and “To Catch a Predator was always more interested in the spectacle of righteous humiliation of the guilty than any real systemic change to help protect children – at the same time the show was on the air, Jeffrey Epstein and other powerful men were getting away the exact same thing. The show did nothing to change that.&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Primetime” (with a script Ajon Singh) captures the disturbance of that spectacle, and calls into question not just Hansen’s culpability, but our own as the audience who elevated such a program to not just cultural relevance, but extreme popularity. Oppenheim blurs the lines between fantasy and reality, interestingly presenting Hansen as both demagogue and true believer – a man unable to see nuance, but able to banish his humanity in pursuit of a perceived higher calling. “Primetime” not only pulls that God complex to the forefront, but makes us question our own role in the endeavor. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Singh’s script follows your typical rise and fall structure, tracking Chris Hansen’s desire to continue to elevate the show’s popularity alongside the hiring of a new decoy, Dan Plumb (Skylar Gisondo), to play a young boy who meets the predators at the sting houses before Hansen shuts everything down. The culminating event is what eventually helped lead to the end of the show – which, if you don’t already know, I won’t spoil for you here.&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Primetime” constantly moves back and forth between the real and unreal – but its trick is forcing you to figure out where you’re living at all times. The movie itself evokes a washed-out ‘80s cop show, the buzzing pinks and blues almost reminiscent of “Miami Vice,” or the soft blue glow that covers a face when it has stared at a computer or television screen for too long.&nbsp; In addition to the world of the movie, we also see the live feeds that are a staple of “To Catch a Predator” – mounted cameras capturing the action in real time.&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">We have been primed by reality television – by “To Catch a Predator,” by “Big Brother,” by a whole host of shows – to believe these unmoving, uninterrupted feeds represent reality. But in “Primetime,” Oppenheim flips the script. We see much of the opening sting – the one that reeks of melodrama as Chris stands triumphantly over the kneeling, weeping perp, like the second coming of Christ himself – from this live feed perspective. But later, when Chris catches a rabbi in one of the show’s stings, the rabbi suddenly confronts <em>him</em>. He asks Chris who gave him permission to mete out justice in this way? This exchange feels almost dreamlike in its execution, each man staring right down the barrel of the camera, Chris’ face beginning to glitch out like he’s lost hold of the simulation he’s created – like can’t fathom that someone, especially this man, could question him. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">That constant format switching – and the fact that more truth seems to be available to us in moments of deep surrealism – calls attention to the fact that everything about Chris Hansen, and therefore about “To Catch a Predator,” is a complete construction. Throughout the film, Chris is constantly rehearsing the best way to repeat on camera the most depraved bits of the messages these men send, trying to find the emphasis that will make those terrible sentences hit the hardest. But, when Dan – sweet Dan, who took the gig on a whim hoping to get his SAG card – asks Chris a question about acting, he gets defensive. “Nothing I do is acting, Dan.”&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">We know, as an audience, that this is not true. Chris is always acting, whether it be asking his wife (Anna Faris) forgiveness for his infidelity, or playing nice with NBC’s Stone Phillips (Bill Heck) while secretly pining for his job. But the movie concedes that perhaps there’s a part of Chris that believes he’s not. And that dogmatic position only makes him all the more unsettling. His producer, Andie (a terrific Merritt Weaver) is pragmatic in her derision of ethics, only concerned with what will make a good show – when Dan’s first day on the job ends with a predator exposing himself to him, she approaches him the way one would a scared kitten, stroking his ego with compliments (“You’re a movie star!” she croons), praying he won’t walk or, Heaven forbid, go to HR. Much like Chris, she’s all about control – but hers is far quieter, marked by a keen eye for the audience’s desire to witness monstrosity.&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">But Chris is a different animal – in one scene, he tells Dan a story about a series of child kidnappings and murders he covered in India, ostensibly the thing that made him want to start the show in the first place. The story – one that is exoticized, one where the evil in question is cosmic, devoid of any human characteristics – amplifies how simplistic Chris’ view of good and evil is, and further emphasizes that storytelling is a powerful force.&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">But, it’s also a manipulative one, and “Primetime” is perhaps more aware of its own power as a manipulator than any other movie this year. Entertainment is manufactured, and pedophilia is one of the most cut and dry, terrible crimes in the book. It’s the one thing that we all – even, often, the people doing it – can agree is truly depraved. Unspeakable. The story Chris tells himself about the demon-like evil he encountered in India allows him to elevate himself to the opposing force. Allows him a modicum of control while his personal life falls apart. Allows him to feel like a God. But when justice becomes about your own sense of self importance rather than actual justice, things go wrong.&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">As wonderful as Pattinson and Weaver are as opposing, yet magnetic forces, Gisondo runs away with the heart of the film. In one electrifying scene where Chris misses a cue, Dan morphs into a crusader, changing from an apple-cheeked fake 13 year old to Chris Hansen 2.0 as he confronts the predator. But in trying to act like Chris, Dan can’t quite muster up the emptiness of spirit, can’t quite rid himself of his own pesky tendencies for empathy. As his eyes dim, you see him struggle to revel in another human being’s misfortune, no matter how reprehensible. Reality TV is both junk food and a mirror – it’s easy to gobble up the righteous anger, the just humiliation, when a screen stands in the way. But “Primetime” forces you to reckon with reality.&nbsp;</p>