After much anticipation – and much controversy – A24’s new film “Primetime” premiered last Friday, September 25. The film is inspired by and based on Dateline NBC’s “To Catch a Predator,” a reality television series that ran from 2004-2007 with the goal of using decoys and hidden cameras to capture and arrest sexual predators who believe they are messaging and meeting up with children.
In the film, Robert Pattinson plays the host of “Predator,” Chris Hansen, though the film is not labelled as a biopic. Directed by Lance Oppenheim, the film is a psychological thriller that is surrealist in its dramatization of the behind-the-scenes events of the show. In an interview with Variety, Oppenheim says he viewed the film as a “docu-fantasia,” and that he “wanted to make something that felt like a fever dream but captured an emotional truth: When you spend a lot of time doing reportage on an extremely dark subject, it must rub off on you.”
This is exactly what the film does. It features real characters and real storylines alongside fictional or composite characters in order to tell a compelling story that questions and complicates what went on surrounding “Predator.” The film follows a time in the life of Hansen and “Predator” in which the show has just been given a “primetime” slot by NBC head Jeff Zucker (played by Jeff Zucker himself). Driven by ratings and fame, the show becomes something different, and the people involved in creating it push the ethical limits of what they’re doing in order to make good television.
The film stars Merritt Wever as the producer of “Predator,” Andie Bender, a fictional composite of producers the show has had and one of the main drivers of prioritizing ratings over the actual goal of the show. Another important member of the team is Xavier Von Erch (played by Matthew Maher), who is a real person whose role was messaging predators and luring them to houses so they could be arrested.
Two decoys are represented in the film: Del Harvey and “Decoy Dan” Plumb, played by Phoebe Bridgers and Skyler Gisondo, respectively. Harvey’s character was based on real-life decoy Del Harvey, while “Decoy Dan” is based on Dan Schrack. The film spends a lot of time fleshing out the character of “Decoy Dan” as an aspiring actor hoping to get more publicity from his role on “Predator,” while Harvey is portrayed as more of an activist focused on taking down predators.
While the beginning of the film builds up the fame of the show and the people involved in it, the ending shifts focus to the infamous sting operation reported on in the article “Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die” by Luke Dittrich, which is mentioned in the film’s end credits. This portion of the film showcases Hansen and the “Predator” team in their hunt for the biggest and best predator to catch for good television, and how that leads to the suicide of assistant district attorney Bill Conradt when faced with police at his house rather than being lured to the decoy’s “house.” This real-life 2006 event was not the end of “Predator,” but opened up controversy about the legal ethics of the show.
On the topic of controversy, Hansen has not stayed silent during the marketing for this film, as he has openly said that he was not part of making the film and has questioned the motives for making it. Hansen also purchased advertising space before every showing of the film, directing audiences to his streaming network TruBlu.
Other than Hansen himself, many people were worried about how the film would portray him – either as a “hero” or a “villain.” Oppenheim, however, described Hansen in the same Variety interview as a “complicated hero…a human with flaws setting out to do something noble, and the effects of capitalism and commercialism make for a confusing experience for him.”
In my opinion, the film does achieve this goal. It presents Hansen and most other characters involved in the show as people with good intentions who have been blinded by outside pressures for ratings and fame. It’s incredibly nuanced, and the audience leaves with a lot to think about and interpret for themselves. It’s also a crazy, wildly entertaining movie with comedic beats and wonderful acting performances.
Pattinson is amazing in the film and adds another great performance to his impressive lineup of 2026 films. I also want to shine a light on Bridgers’ performance as Harvey; this film was her first substantial acting role, having only ever acted before as herself in the 2024 movie “I Saw the TV Glow.”
Overall, the film was a thrilling, thought-provoking behind-the-scenes exploration of Chris Hansen’s “To Catch a Predator” that should not be treated as a perfectly accurate accounting of events, but rather a creative and artistic product prompting audiences to do their own digging – both into the real-world stories it’s based on to learn more, and into their own minds to uncover where their ethical boundaries lie.
Senior Emily Myers is a Copy Editor. Her email is emyers3@fandm.edu.