“Primetime,” directed by Lance Oppenheim, opened in theaters in September 2026. An A24 Studios film starring Robert Pattinson, the film is a biopic about Chris Hansen, a television host for Dateline NBC, who hosted the television show “To Catch a Predator.”
“To Catch a Predator”
The show consisted of Hansen working with Perverted-Justice, an organization based in Oregon and California. They used social media and adult actors acting as children to lure sexual predators into houses. There, Hansen would then confront them about their actions.
“Primetime” review
“Primetime” follows Hansen’s desperation to corner a “big” predator, to impress NBC producers and get a primetime slot. Additionally, Hansen is depicted wanting his children and wife to be proud of him if he can catch a “big” predator. As the film progresses, the viewer follows Hansen and his staff chasing predators.
The movie revolves around Hansen, played by Pattinson, his producer Andie Bender, played by Merritt Wever, and two adults who are trained to act as children to lure in the predators. One adult, Del, played by Phoebe Bridgers, is an experienced actor who has the task of luring predators into previously set up houses by Hansen and his crew. The other adult, Dan Plum, played by Skylar Gisondo, is a recently hired actor, who learns how to act as a decoy to help Del.
Movie’s depiction of Hansen
Throughout the movie, Hansen shows no remorse for the predators he places predators in the limelight. He reads their messages back to them, before letting them leave the house, only to be stopped by police.
All Hansen wants is fame and attention. Because the people he catches normally do not have an arrest record, it’s difficult for them to be prosecuted.
Despite this, Hansen focuses on finding a government official to put on his show, cementing a better viewing time. As the film progresses, he and the whole team go to Texas. They work with a local police force to catch people there. In the background of the film, Perverted-Justice had been in contact with a district attorney from Texas. The crew involved in To Catch a Predator felt it was the big catch they had been waiting for. As a result, they drop everything to get to Texas and catch the attorney.
Internal conflicts
Plum is conflicted about his role in the actions, undergoing a moral dilemma that Hansen talks him out of after his producer, Bender, makes him. Even as Hansen talks to Plum, he is portrayed as not caring and instead focused on making sure Plum does not quit. Hansen hurriedly ends his conversation with Plum for his own plans, dinner with a woman who is cheating on his wife with. The dinner scene includes Hansen breaking off his relationship, not wanting it to be revealed, especially as he is trying to further his career.
Spoiler alert: The film uses the point of Hansen being an adulterer to showcase his hypocritical nature. He publicly shames people for being predators, while not being innocent himself. While it is important to show that Hansen was not perfect, it does not fully make sense. Oppenheim adds this subplot to the movie to make it look like Hansen is just as bad as the predators he catches. However, objectively, being a child predator and cheating on your wife with a consenting adult are not the same level of morally wrong. The subplot is also mainly used to further drive the plot forward, with a journalist catching Hansen at his dinner. He then threatens Hansen to release the information unless Hansen gives a statement to him about his actions.
Tensions arise
While Hansen is being threatened by the journalist, his producer, Andie Bender, is going through her own subplot. She is approached by another producer who is involved in the show What Would You Do? Who wants her to leave To Catch a Predator to work on it. As the film evolves, Wever does a great job at showing Bender’s confliction, along with her lack of morals. She likes her current job because she is successful, not because she likes catching predators. As soon as tensions arise and it looks like the show will lose its traction, she considers leaving.
Tensions continue to rise as the climax of the film approaches. Hansen feels the stress of the journalist threatening him, along with trying to catch an important person as a predator. At the climax of the film, Hansen’s crew lures their big catch, a district attorney. They lure him to one of their houses in the middle of the night. Pattinson’s portrayal has led Hansen to come across as more unhinged, desperate to catch this person, and confirm a better time slot for his show. This leads to him yet again encouraging Plum, and having him call the predator, Bill Condrat, played by Alex Winter, after he failed to show up at the house.
Gisondo shows Plum’s hesitations at his task well, with fear behind his eyes, that immediately slips away when Hansen encourages him again, desperate to gain approval from his boss. The phone call takes place in a police station, with Hansen’s team present along with a SWAT team. Eventually, Condrat gives Plum an address, which leads the whole team to show up at his house.
Time to catch a predator
As they approach his house, there is a storm occurring, and everything is fast paced. This allows the viewer to feel the pressure all of the characters are feeling in the moment. Once they are present in front of the house, Gisondo’s character calls the predator one last time. As he does it, the camera cuts between Gisondo in the car and a window in the house, where a shadow suddenly appears.
While Plum uses his young person’s voice to beg Condrat to come outside, Hansen is seen waiting outside, ready to barge in and condemn Condrat to jail. However, Condrat takes a gun to his head and kills himself, effectively ending To Catch a Predator.
As this happens, Bender calls the other producer to tell her that she is going to stay with the show. Wever ties her character’s arch back together with this, effectively showing her lack of morals.
The aftermath
The use of the storm and the multiple camera cuts between characters emphasized the tension and stress everyone is feeling in the moment, especially since the movie ends almost directly after. The film ends on a bittersweet note, with no mention of Hansen. Instead, it shows Plum receiving a card to the Screen Actors Guild. Showing that he was a known actor after successfully giving up his morals to aid in pressuring a man to end his life.
Chris Hansen’s thoughts on “Primetime”
Chris Hansen himself did see the movie. While offered an exclusive early screening, he declined, claiming the standard NDA was highly restrictive. According to FOX News, afterward he said that “It was so bizarre and so in-and-out of reality.” He also said that almost none of the scenes depicted in the movie actually happened. Additionally, he also posted a video over twenty minutes long on his YouTube channel discussing the movie after seeing it.
