published September 24, 2026
Primetime is a morally compromised telling of Chris Hansen’s ethically challenging endeavor to get sexual predators off the streets.
One of the first lines in the end credits is something usually reserved for one of the last: it’s noted while Primetime is based on actual events, elements were changed for dramatic effect.
That’s certainly to be expected. After all, To Catch a Predator ran from 2004-2007 and involved 20 exposes as part of the long-running Dateline NBC series of investigative reporting (back before it became nothing more than the “murder of the week” series). And it’s only a portion of Chris Hansen’s 32-year career at NBC (and its affiliates) overall, which included Dateline coverage of the Columbine shootings and Sept. 11 among other high-profile reporting. His tenure continued for six more years after one predator case turned tragic with the suicide of a Texas district attorney who was being served papers with the TV cameras rolling.
The movie is only 110 minutes long. So, shortcuts are required. It’s all about the focus. And, please, just the facts, ma’am.
How dramatic are the alterations? Is the final cut still a “fair” representation of actual history and not another piece of revisionist nonsense?
Well, perhaps as a reflection of today’s society, here Hansen is cast as borderline psycho in his own way. His actions in attempting to bust predators seeking to do harm to young innocents seemingly takes a front seat while the evils of the deviants are practically left in the trunk. In this skewed view, Hansen is a bigger predator than the sexual predators he figuratively and at times (involuntarily) literally exposed.
“You see how this looks, right?”
That’s what Chris often asked his targets. That’s also a fair question for Primetime ’s director, Lance Oppenheim, and first-time screenwriter Ajon Singh.
Is society today any smarter than it was a mere 20 years ago?
No. Hardly.
But some people want today’s values and standards (such as they are) to be reflected across the board, even in biographical stories from years past. It’s also why some TV shows now sport a disclaimer regarding certain that might be considered offensive today, but was the norm when originally aired.
The same techniques are used today to catch those predators. Law enforcement still poses online as underage targets to lure “bad actors.” But Hansen put it all in a broadcast news show. That’s the big difference. And it was much less lurid than it’s been portrayed here. It was an odd, controversial and even sensationalist public service, for sure. But it was serving a purpose beyond the TV ratings. Its goal was higher than simply beating Lost in the Nielsens. (Which, here, is itself a narrative sleight of hand in lumping together other “catch” spin-offs with the predator series. But that’s among the least of the movie’s narrative sins.)
Primetime starts with Robert Pattinson as Chris Hansen, shirtless, sitting in front of a dressing room mirror. He’s talking to himself: “I will undress you if you undress me.” It starts creepy from the opening frames and, as this scene plays out, it gets creepier. Odd camera angles. Tight close-ups. Eerie lighting. Who is this madman? Col. Kurtz?
No.
He’s just an investigative journalist rehearsing lines captured in a transcript of a predator’s conversations with a decoy. He throws those lines back at the pervy perp.
Pattinson is good, overall. He doesn’t look like Hansen, but he gets the voice – sometimes, particularly in the broader moments of heightened TV drama. Such as with his first grand theatrical entrance as he busts a predator. But the voice seems to come and go. There’s also his twitchy confrontational look; the same one Pattinson used as Antinous in The Odyssey.
Hansen is also cast as a bad man because of his extra-marital relationship with a younger woman that jeopardized the already strained domestic life with his wife and two sons. You know you’ve “arrived” in the public psyche when the salacious National Enquirer starts calling.
Amidst the entrapment controversies surrounding the sting operations and the threat of entrapment in Hansen’s own personal scandal looming, mogul Jeff Zucker (CEO of NBC TV at the time) stretches his acting chops in his portrayal of mogul Jeff Zucker (who, coincidentally enough, resigned from CNN in 2022 following his own relationship indiscretions involving a coworker). But, of course, Zucker’s poor choices can be swept under the rug while Hansen’s cannot.
Apparently.
By the way, Hansen’s personal scandals happened after To Catch a Predator ran its course, so it’s a bit of creative license to pile it on here.
“You see how this looks, right?”
So. It seems the screenplay (based on Luke Dittrich’s February 2009 Esquire article “Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die: NBC’s To Catch a Predator arrived in Murphy, Texas, to conduct a sting operation. The only honest thing that followed was the gunshot.”) was filmed because it makes for a “good” movie just as To Catch a Predator was broadcast because it made for good TV.
Primetime is certainly well-made, at least technically speaking. There are moments that carry a Hitchcockian edge. Some of the cinematography captures the splotchy, grainy look of the VHS and analog TV age.
And the cast is overall quite good. Most notable is Skyler Gisondo, who plays Dan Plumb, an aspiring actor who starts his career playing bait to sexual predators. But the scenes offer no rehearsal time. It’s all improv as he essentially turns the table and entices the predator into the kitchen. Gisondo was so annoying as a poorly drawn Jimmy Olsen in James Gunn’s Superman. But Primetime gives him a great opportunity to shine.
There’s also Phoebe Bridgers (the “alternative folk” musician worked with Oppenheim on her Lost Boys music video, alongside Gisondo). Her role is as a decoy, working as both a girl and a boy, depending on the predator’s preferences. It’s a relatively small role; nonetheless, it’s an impressive performance on her part.
But the movie grinds gears on some parallel storylines that shift the focus a bit too much.
Dan – dubbed “Decoy Dan” by Hansen – has an ongoing sub-story regarding his acting career and a friend who teases him about his “acting.” Dan’s storyline ends the movie on a high note as he receives his SAG card, while Hansen’s own story seems to be ending in doom. (Reality check: not so much.)
There’s also too much made of some of the crew being enticed to join other shows, such as John Quinones’ “feel-good” antidote to predators, What Would You Do? Really? Poaching talent isn’t ominous or mysterious. It’s business. Snag proven talent from a proven hit show and hit the road running.
Running throughout Primetime are some strange fascinations, some odd distractions. There are loads of cookies. There’s Rent (both the stage play and the movie versions). And Billy Bob Thornton makes an unexpected cameo via vintage Inside the Actor’s Studio footage.
Are biopics losing the plot?
Earlier this year, Michael sidestepped the child molestation controversies, but it was also a matter of what the movie was about and the timing of those scandals in relation to the period covered in the movie. Of course, legal threats certainly didn’t help, leading to a movie that was, if anything, guilty of omission.
This summer saw the release of Tony, a movie with an astonishingly deep and abiding aversion to almost anything factual about Anthony Bourdain.
Thankfully, A Complete Unknown, James Mangold’s 2024 take on Bob Dylan’s early days, ending with his biggest and practically career-defining controversy – going electric – painted a terrific cinematic portrait of a time, a place and a group of remarkably talented people.
Now there’s Primetime, which turns into its own version of exploitation that attempts to upend good and evil. A rabbi, caught in the trap, serves as an imposing challenger to Hansen: “You’re being very harsh to me. Who gave you permission to do this? You don’t have the right to do this. Who do you think you are?”
Well, the guy was sending explicit photos to a 13-year-old boy and arrived at his house to do something. Certainly, it wasn’t to sing showtunes. So, who gave him the right to violate the laws established by society?
There are some great puzzle pieces that help fill out what is ultimately left as an incomplete picture.
Some of the most effective scenes are those that bring back elements of the Predator era and adjacent elements of society. One features Decoy Dan standing in front of a wall covered with missing person posters. Another, set in a Subway shop, quietly tackles another headline maker: images of the infamous predator Jared adorn the menu screens.
Those elements should reinforce the good Hansen was trying to do. But. Somehow. They don’t.
Oppenheim’s background features primarily short form work and it shows here as he struggles to maintain focus. This movie was never about objectivity, but it’s so slanted, it seems as though there was never an honest interest in understanding Hansen or the Dateline segments. At 110 minutes, it’s his longest work and sometimes it starts to lose track of where it’s going.
Well. Hold on. Oppenheim is also making waves on the festival circuit with You Can See Everything, a 3-hour epic documentary he co-directed over the course of three years with Nathan Fielder while following Elizabeth Holmes, the notorious founder of Theranos, the blood testing company.
Hansen has taken issue with Primetime and he refused to sign an unusually restrictive NDA to see it. Potential lawsuits and a pre-movie commercial are among the tactics he’s pursuing. It’ll be interesting to see how Holmes reacts to You Can See Everything.
Is society being served well with these revisionist endeavors?
Everybody should take a seat.
And, when compared to the real lives involved, see how it all looks.