REVIEW — “Primetime”

Directed by Lance Oppenheim, Primetime is A24’s fictionalized, behind-the-scenes look at the production of Dateline NBC’s notorious To Catch a Predator. Set in 2006 and inspired by true events, the film transforms the boring mechanics of reality television into a nerve-wracking psychological horror story.

Much like Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler, Primetime treats the pursuit of TV ratings as a demented obsession, capturing a feral, nocturnal subculture driven by exploitation, paranoia, and moral hypocrisy, where predatory instincts exist on both sides of the camera. Leaning heavily into a rainy, retro, early-2000s aesthetic, director Oppenheim shot the film with gritty, low-res cameras complete with scan-lines, hidden-cam footage, and fluorescent-lighting.

Yet, for all its period accuracy and hard-hitting drama on a deeply uncomfortable subject, Primetime is also shockingly funny. Writer Ajon Singh nails a precise satirical tone where genuine howls of laughter are mixed with nervous gasps. The humor comes not from punchlines, but from the surreal absurdity of moral outrage weaponized for sweeps-week entertainment.

At the epicenter of this madness is Robert Pattinson, delivering a career-best, chameleonic turn as a fictionalized version of host Chris Hansen. Pattinson embodies the character as a terrifyingly ambitious journalist whose authoritative monotone and performative empathy allow him to transition in seconds from genial host to executioner.

He portrays Hansen not as a crusader for justice, but as a hollowed-out showman entirely consumed by his own ego. The actor’s chilling performance adds to an already banner year for Pattinson, which includes an extraordinary stretch of dramatic turns in films like The Drama and Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, as well as his highly anticipated role in Dune: Part Three.

Pattinson is matched by a powerhouse supporting cast of scene-stealers. Skyler Gisondo delivers a star-making performance as Decoy Dan, a twitchy, ethically compromised actor— basically groomed by Hansen—whose ambition slowly consumes his conscience. Meanwhile, Merritt Wever grounds the film as a cynical field producer trying to hold the unraveling show together, while quietly delivering some of the movie’s sharpest lines and dramatic beats. The film also stars Phoebe Bridgers, Matthew Maher, Tony Revolori, Anna Faris and Bokeem Woodbine.

However, the film’s most inspired strokes of genius is in its stunt casting. Audiences will be stunned by surprising cameos from The Office’s Creed Bratton, as well as skin-crawling turns from Bill & Ted’s Alex Winter and Jerry Maguire’s Jonathan Lipnicki playing radically against type as exposed predators.

Ultimately, Primetime, much like the show it exposes, begins to spiral. While the film is an uncompromising examination of the voyeuristic hunger that fuels American media, it never asks the hard questions about where justice ends and entertainment begins. Did To Catch a Predator do good, or was the show itself predatory? A bit of both. However, Primetime is an intense experience and a shocking, obsessive, and hysterically dark thriller that keeps the tension cranked to max until the cameras fade to black. 3/5

Rating R with a running time of 1 hours and 50 minutes, Primetime opens in theaters on September 25, 2026.