Robert Pattinson attends the “Primetime” Screening during the 83rd Venice International Film Festival at Sala Grande on Sept. 5, 2026. [Photo by Colleen Sturtevant via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0]
The real Chris Hansen may dislike “Primetime,” but the Oscars buzz seems to be in Robert Pattinson’s court. To quote Hansen: “You see how this looks, right?”
Lance Oppenheim’s “Primetime” is the unexpected success story of the autumn. Made with a mere budget of $15,000,000, “Primetime” has already grossed over $34,000,000 in the United States box office and has won favor with critics and audiences.
The film is not a bio-pic of Chris Hansen, nor a clear-cut autopsy of “To Catch a Predator” as a show, but it is based on the true events that resulted in the show’s cancellation.
In July 2006, Chris Hansen, Dateline, and the Perverted Justice vigilante group approached the Murphy Police Department (MPD) and offered to facilitate a sting operation for online predators. If successful, the sting would air on “To Catch A Predator.”
A few months later, the crew told MPD that they’d hit a major target: District Attorney Bill Conradt.
Hansen, eager to continue the show’s “surprise ambush” format, asked the officers to serve a search warrant for Conradt’s home. For the first time, Dateline would ambush instead of luring.
NBC had their cameras rolling on November 5, 2006 when officers and SWAT served a search warrant at Conradt’s Terrell, Texas home. As SWAT breached his home, Conradt shot himself. He died within the hour.
Conradt’s death resulted in the cancellation of “To Catch A Predator” after public and legal backlash.
His sister, Patricia, settled a lawsuit with NBC for an undisclosed amount. The court ruled against NBC, citing that they inflicted intentional emotional distress. Hansen, however, has repeatedly defended “To Catch a Predator” by claiming they held no responsibility for the police’s actions. Both judges who signed the warrant testified that they would not have signed had they known NBC would be present.
The backlash continued against Hansen and his team with the publication of Luke Dittrich’s 2007 Esquire article “Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die.” The film cites this article as a direct inspiration.
“Primetime” balances a lot on its plate, but Lance Oppenheim’s directing and a snappy script by Ajon Singh and Luke Dittrich kept the movie afloat. Cinematographer David Bolen’s crunchy, distorted Y2K vision feels exposing and vulnerable. Every few minutes, the film serves the viewer a visual feast of intricate framing, crisp lighting and constantly-changing camera quality.
Robert Pattinson portrays Chris Hansen as a heart-of-gold television presenter caught in the manic, unforgiving loop of reality television and journalism.
At times, Pattinson is downright frightening in how unpredictable he plays the fictionalized Hansen. Though the real Chris Hansen has voiced disdain for the film, Pattinson has been praised by critics as a potential Best Actor frontrunner. Pattinson knows how to fully embody a complex character, making audiences both root for Hansen and cringe when he fails.
By far, the standout performance is Skyler Gisondo as “Decoy” Dan Plum.
Gisondo is no stranger to the screen, yet his performance as the actor-turned-bait leaves the largest impact in a movie full of rich performances. He manages to portray the slow emotional decay brought on by dealing with vile criminals and not having a support system to go home to. His faux-teenage persona is eerie to watch, especially as the so-called “parade of men” corner him.
Gisondo is the one to watch; this is his landmark role in an already colorful career.
In the film, Hansen’s actions are neither villainized nor praised, and the predators are not given undue sympathy. The movie’s thesis blends the support with the outrage, instead questioning if “To Catch a Predator” muddied its justice with the reality television format.
During the post-9/11 era, Americans sought control and tangible justice. Audiences derived satisfaction from seeing bad people get exposed and punished for their misdeeds in shows like “To Catch a Predator.” Chris Hansen clearly has good intentions, but did the production machine turn him into an exploiter? Is justice properly served when there is an NBC deadline to meet? As Hansen asks: “What would have happened if I wasn’t here?”
“Primetime” took a complicated tale of blurry morality and presents it masterfully against a backdrop of the early-2000s television landscape and the justice-seeking desires of a post-9/11 world. There is no doubt it will be the film to beat this Academy Awards season.
