Film tip: Primetime exposes the disturbing world of reality television

Robert Pattinson transforms into controversial television host Chris Hansen in Primetime, a dark, stylish thriller about the dangerous intersection of journalism, entertainment and public humiliation. Director Lance Oppenheim turns the rise of To Catch a Predator into an unsettling portrait of ambition, moral certainty and what happens when the pursuit of justice becomes a ratings sensation.

Film details

• Title: Primetime
• Premiere date in the Netherlands: 29 October 2026
• Director: Lance Oppenheim
• Runtime: 110 minutes
• Genre: Drama, crime, thriller
• Country: United States
• Language: English
• Subtitles: Dutch
• Age rating: 12+
• Cast: Robert Pattinson, Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, Phoebe Bridgers, Anna Faris, Bokeem Woodbine and Matthew Maher
• Where to watch in Rotterdam: KINO, LantarenVenster and Cinerama

What's the vibe?

It is 2006, and American television host Chris Hansen is enjoying a remarkable rise to fame. His programme, To Catch a Predator, has become a cultural phenomenon by luring adults who believe they are meeting minors into houses equipped with hidden cameras. Instead of the encounter they expect, they find Hansen, his production crew and a very uncomfortable conversation.

For millions of viewers, the programme offers a strange mixture of investigative journalism, public accountability and reality television. The confrontations become viral sensations, and Hansen increasingly finds himself at the centre of the spectacle.

Robert Pattinson plays Hansen as an ambitious television personality who believes in his own mission, but also enjoys the attention it brings. As the programme grows more successful, the boundaries between justice, entertainment and personal ambition become increasingly difficult to distinguish.

Around him, a collection of producers, performers and television executives pursue their own interests. Merritt Wever plays the driven producer Andie Bender, while Skyler Gisondo portrays Dan Plumb, an aspiring actor recruited to work as a decoy during the investigations.

Director Lance Oppenheim presents this world through an exaggerated visual style that recalls both early-2000s reality television and psychological horror. Expect surveillance footage, uncomfortable close-ups, aggressive editing and a growing sense that nearly everyone involved has lost sight of something important.

This is certainly not a traditional biographical drama. It is closer to a nightmare about a television industry that discovers moral outrage can be extremely profitable.

Trailer

Check out the trailer below.

Why you might like it

• Eyes: Saturated colours, surveillance-style photography, unsettling close-ups and a visual style that transforms early-2000s television culture into something resembling a horror film.
• Heart: The performances reveal the human cost of an entertainment machine built around public confrontation, particularly through the experiences of people working behind the cameras.
• Mind: Primetime raises uncomfortable questions about investigative journalism, public humiliation, moral authority and the difference between exposing wrongdoing and turning it into a spectacle.

Critical reception

Primetime has received a strong critical response, with Robert Pattinson's performance attracting particularly enthusiastic reviews.

As of 27 October, Rotten Tomatoes gives the film 86% from 245 critic reviews, alongside a 77% verified audience score from more than 2,500 ratings. Its critical consensus praises the film's distinctive style and its examination of the uncomfortable relationship between justice and entertainment.

Metacritic places the film at approximately 67 out of 100, indicating generally favourable reviews, although the response is considerably more divided than the Rotten Tomatoes percentage might suggest.

Vanity Fair was especially impressed by Pattinson, praising his extraordinary transformation into Hansen and the film's willingness to embrace the uglier aspects of its subject. The BBC was similarly enthusiastic, describing the performance as one of the strongest of Pattinson's career.

Variety admired the film's claustrophobic atmosphere, inventive editing and aggressive visual language. IndieWire praised Oppenheim's ability to transform an already uncomfortable television phenomenon into something resembling an arthouse horror film.

Other critics have been more sceptical.

The Guardian argued that the film's elaborate style fails to compensate for an uncertain message about media ethics and morality. The Hollywood Reporter also questioned whether Primetime explores its subject deeply enough, suggesting that it sometimes favours lurid entertainment over genuine insight.

Nevertheless, Pattinson has emerged as the film's undisputed centre of attention. His performance captures Hansen's recognisable television mannerisms while gradually revealing a character consumed by his own public image.

Primetime had its world premiere in competition at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival in September 2026, where it reportedly received a nine-minute standing ovation. Although it did not win a major festival prize, its reception generated considerable discussion about Pattinson's potential awards prospects.

Scene to watch for

Pay attention to the moments when Hansen prepares to confront another suspected predator.

The film spends considerable time showing how these encounters are assembled for television. Cameras are positioned, performers rehearse their roles and producers prepare for the moment when an unsuspecting target enters the house.

What makes these sequences so uncomfortable is the contrast between the seriousness of the alleged offences and the almost theatrical excitement surrounding their presentation.

Oppenheim gradually encourages the viewer to examine the production itself. The camera is no longer simply recording a confrontation. It has become part of the event, shaping what happens and how the audience is expected to respond.

Watch Pattinson's expression whenever Hansen prepares to deliver one of his carefully rehearsed lines. His performance suggests a man who may increasingly struggle to distinguish his professional identity from the character he plays on television.

Recommended pairing

Primetime is probably best approached as an evening film, followed by a quiet drink and a conversation about what you have just watched.

For food, keep things casual with a burger, fries or something equally comforting before the screening. The film's subject matter is uncomfortable enough without adding an experimental dining experience.

Afterwards, consider discussing how television and social media have changed since 2006. Public confrontations, online investigations and amateur attempts to expose wrongdoing are hardly confined to traditional television anymore.

The film offers plenty to talk about, especially if you remember watching reality television before social media platforms made almost everyone a potential broadcaster.

Need-to-knows

The real story behind the film

Primetime is inspired by the real American television programme To Catch a Predator, which appeared as part of NBC's Dateline beginning in 2004.

The programme worked with an online vigilante organisation, Perverted-Justice, to arrange sting operations involving adults suspected of seeking sexual contact with minors. Adult decoys posed as children online, while television crews and law enforcement authorities participated in operations that became increasingly controversial.

The programme attracted enormous attention, but its methods raised questions about entrapment, journalistic responsibility and the consequences of exposing suspected offenders on national television.

One particularly controversial investigation in Texas in 2006 ended with the death by suicide of assistant district attorney Bill Conradt, prompting legal scrutiny and further debate about the programme's practices.

Primetime draws partly from journalist Luke Dittrich's 2007 Esquire investigation, Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die, which examined that incident and its consequences.

Chris Hansen disputes the portrayal

An important distinction is that Primetime is a dramatisation, not a documentary. Although Pattinson portrays the real Chris Hansen, the filmmakers have altered events, characters, motivations and timelines to serve their story. Hansen himself has strongly criticised the film, arguing that it presents a distorted and largely fictional version of his work and personality.

In interviews following the American release, he objected particularly to the portrayal of his family life and the suggestion that his investigations were primarily motivated by personal fame. Oppenheim, meanwhile, has approached the story as a commentary on the nature of television spectacle and the ways public figures construct their identities.

Viewers should therefore avoid treating the film as a definitive historical account of Hansen or the programme.

A documentary filmmaker moves into fiction

Primetime marks Lance Oppenheim's narrative feature debut. His earlier documentaries include Some Kind of Heaven, Spermworld and Ren Faire, projects known for exploring unusual personalities, insular communities and the worlds people construct around themselves.

That documentary background helps explain Primetime's fascination with performance, authenticity and the increasingly blurred boundary between reality and entertainment. The screenplay was written by Ajon Singh, while cinematographer David Bolen and editor Daniel Garber helped develop the film's distinctive visual language.

The film is produced by A24 and Square Peg, with Robert Pattinson and filmmaker Ari Aster among its producers. Singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers also makes her feature-film acting debut.

The American release carries an R rating for disturbing sexual material, violent content, graphic nudity and language. The Dutch Kijkwijzer classification is 12, with warnings including fear, violence and coarse language. Despite that lower Dutch age classification, its themes may be distressing for younger viewers.