By The real Chris Hansen seems afraid to face the version of himself that stars in Lance Oppenheim’s PRIMETIME, an understandably daunting prospect for the 67-year-old. Movies linger in the public consciousness more potently than even the most influential reality TV. Future generations may define Hansen purely as one of Robert Pattinson’s most iconic characters, with the actual TO CATCH A PREDATOR series becoming more of a novelty—something that only true devotees of TV history have more than cursory exposure to. By becoming a film character, Hansen is immortalized at the cost of his vanity. His pursuit of adoration is the metronome that drives PRIMETIME, even if the film often lacks the curiosity to fully unpack it. Oppenheim, a documentarian, excels at resurrecting this uncertain era in television history on a stylistic level. His film is at its most riveting when acting as a bleak behind-the-scenes procedural chronicling the trials of those tasked with bringing a righteous humiliation ritual to cable. However, when it has to dig into screenwriter Ajon Singh’s gossipy exploration of the television host’s personal life and psyche, Pattinson ends up being the one going to ridiculous lengths to keep our eyeballs glued to the screen.
We meet this Chris Hansen in 2006 in the middle of a routine bust. TO CATCH A PREDATOR is a cultural phenomenon that has made him a household name. As such, Chris has developed a snarky persona that takes blatant glee in watching attempted pedophiles grovel for their anonymity. NBC President Jeff Zucker (playing himself) rewards these efforts with the sought-after 9 p.m. weeknight slot, but imparts the need for more sellable villains on Chris and his producer, Andie (Merritt Wever). This coincides with the team bringing on working actor Dan Plumb (Skyler Gisondo) as one of the adult decoys who lure the predators into Chris’ crosshairs. Dan adjusts well to his uncomfortable new gig, just in time to get a front-row seat to a self-defeating spiral that will ultimately swallow the show whole.
Skyler Gisondo has spent his entire career typecast as one-note, charmingly awkward comic relief in projects like BOOKSMART, SUPERMAN, and SANTA CLARITA DIET. There’s always been something deeply lovable in his screen persona that was begging to be broken. Gisondo is an outstanding insert for us as we’re brought into Hansen’s whirlwind. We understand why this affable but not particularly strapping guy would leap at the opportunity to be a part of something so popular, even with the transgressive ask of “repeatedly pretend to be a pre-teen boy in order to almost get molested.” After all, the show’s impact and intentions speak for themselves, and long-term decoy Del (an effortlessly plugged-in Phoebe Bridgers) seems pretty invested—aside from some gripes about distasteful merchandising. It is sickening and deeply revealing to watch Dan try to craft new tactics to tee up Chris’ confrontations while maintaining his own safety and keeping busybody Andie happy.
Dan and Del’s point of view is so naturally unnerving that at times it feels like overkill to dwell on Pattinson’s Hansen. That is not to dismiss his performance. Pattinson has thrived on cultivating eerie personas, and it is a fascinating meta challenge for him to essentially portray his own acting process. Chris is a bog-standard journalist who is determined to shapeshift into something both intimidating and sellable. It works on both levels. When this Chris is in showman mode, it is totally believable that he’d be a pop culture sensation. It’s Robert Pattinson at full tilt, chewing scenery and bullying pedophiles. However, it’s also pretty horrific to see just how craven this obsession has made him. When he goes home to his sons, all he can think to do with them is sit them down and show them TO CATCH A PREDATOR while he thinks about how he’s going to explain his latest bit of adultery to his long-suffering wife Mary Joan (Anna Farris, unfortunately only in one real scene).
This frivolous cheating scandal takes up quite a bit of PRIMETIME’s unfocused second act. When we meet Chris’ mistress for one scene, they have no meaningful connection. There’s only so many scenarios someone so one-note and narcissistic can find himself in. Most of them are spent with Andie bringing Chris back down to Earth. Weaver is excellent, never wilting in the face of Pattinson’s most showboaty scenes. I just found myself yearning for more Dan and Del. This take on Hansen is a supporting role trapped in a lead; he would’ve been best served as a monster constantly lurking in the shadows of this unhinged production. If Chris’ screentime had been diluted down to his absolute best scenes, this would’ve been a top-tier turn for Pattinson. Instead, it pales in comparison to his more sincerely vulnerable work in THE DRAMA earlier this year. In my view, Hansen is not a figure particularly deserving of compassion. His bizarre response to an actual victim of pedophilia’s criticism of his work in the PREDATORS documentary almost singlehandedly validates PRIMETIME’s interpretation of him. Even so, the film just doesn’t fully realize him as a flawed man worth following for two hours.
Thankfully, Oppenheim regains focus for PRIMETIME’s unsettling third act following the hunt for Texas district attorney Bill Conradt (Alex Winter). A politician is exactly the kind of salacious target Hansen is looking for: his “whale.” Like many whale hunters before him, this task drives him and his crew into madness. As we watch the entire ensemble unravel, Oppenheim intercuts glimpses of Conradt’s melancholy waking life. Hansen may see him as the manifestation of a monstrous force that he’s come to define all of pedophila by, but this man is trying his best to portray a life fueled by just actions despite his severe perversions. In just a short amount of screentime, Winter shows us just how pitiful and uncomfortable this existence is. This all leads to a tense confrontation resulting in a devastating outcome. Oppenheim flirts with a final line that might’ve been historic, only to tack on a final scene that he admitted to adding because the real ending seemed too bleak. Weak instincts!
Regardless, Oppenheim has made quite an evocative film: one that visibly bleeds from a washed-out aesthetic reminiscent of a dodgy old television with slightly unplugged “yellow, white, red” cables. Although his motivations are rooted in fear and a desire to censor, Hansen is correct to describe PRIMETIME as “dramatic.” It savors the salacious nature of his story and ponders if TO CATCH A PREDATOR was an inflection point in American culture’s desire to prove itself a beacon of purity and justice. It’s a thorny, uneasy work that I look forward to revisiting with the context of how it is executed. Today, I am not convinced that PRIMETIME is this generation’s NETWORK, but I suspect that Oppenheim and Pattinson may have such a film in them.
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