The subject matter is dark in Lance Oppenheim\u2019s narrative feature debut, \u201cPrimetime\u201d\u2014adult men seeking to have sex with minors. So dark that it became a hit television show on NBC, \u201cTo Catch a Predator,\u201d hosted by Chris Hansen, played here by Robert Pattinson. Not to be confused with David Osit\u2019s 2025 documentary \u201cPredators,\u201d which chronicled the show\u2019s rise and fall as words like \u201centrapment\u201d and \u201cempathy\u201d entered the conversation, this new A24 film draws on the true story but takes several liberties in pursuit of entertainment. Blending elements of horror and comedy, the film takes audiences on a surreal journey that, a few degrees to the right, could have turned into a Boots Riley film.<\/p>\n
Was Oppenheim\u2019s far-from-average biopic destined to be made? As Chris Hansen would say, “Have a seat right over there,” while we explore. Writer Ajon Singh was forced to watch \u201cCatch a Predator\u201d with his mother when he was 10, as a sort of safety lesson. While filming \u201cTwilight\u201d in the States, Robert Pattinson became fascinated with the hidden camera show after stumbling upon a broadcast marathon. And Oppenheim\u2019s wife (Abbey Rowe) once hired Hansen to record a Cameo to congratulate her husband on his documentary \u201cSpermworld,\u201d which in itself may be another connection.<\/p>\n
What we do know is that \u201cPrimetime\u201d was inspired by Esquire\u2019s article, “Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die.\u201d Written by Luke Dittrich, the article chronicled the tragedy in Murphy, Texas, in which Bill Conradt, the Rockwall County district attorney, shot himself in the head as Hansen, his crew, and local authorities raided his home. The episode largely contributed to the show’s cancellation.<\/p>\n
Alex Winter, best known for the \u201cBill & Ted\u201d movies, plays Conradt, one of the many cast members known for comedy who takes on a dramatic role. Anna Faris (\u201cScary Movie\u201d) plays Hansen\u2019s wife, Mary, whose marriage is falling apart as her husband becomes obsessed with his TV show\u2014in one scene, Hansen wakes their young children to make them watch TCAP.<\/p>\n
Wonderful character actor Matthew Maher (\u201cDogma,\u201d \u201cJersey Girl\u201d) plays Xavier Von Erck, the leader of the vigilante watchdog group Perverted Justice, which helped Hansen identify predators for the show by posing as minors in chat rooms. To further lure suspects, Hansen hired adults who looked and sounded young as decoys to meet the men before exposing them on national television.<\/p>\n
One of the film\u2019s strongest performances comes from Skyler Gisondo (\u201cBooksmart\u201d), who plays Dan Plum, aka \u201cDecoy Dan,\u201d based on the real-life Dan Schrack. Dan was the one who lured Conradt in, causing the aspiring actor to walk away from the show. In Oppenheim\u2019s film, Dan takes the gig only to get an acting credit in hopes of earning a SAG card. In another interesting casting choice, the other decoy, Del Harvey (who posed as both underage boys and girls), based on the actual Perverted Justice volunteer, is played by singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers. Oppenheim cast Bridgers for her vocal range.<\/p>\n
We also get cameos in the predator roles by Tony Revolori (\u201cThe Grand Budapest Hotel,\u201d \u201cSpider-Man\u201d) as a former Marine, Bob Ari as a rabbi, and former child actor Jonathan Lipnicki, who drops his pants while holding a can of whipped cream.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrimetime\u201d is not an origin story. Don\u2019t expect to learn how the true-crime series was conceived. The story begins in 2006, when the recurring Dateline NBC segment was already an established hit. Starting here is much better, as we watch the enormous pressure placed on Hansen to deliver after NBC chief exec Jeff Zucker (strangely playing himself) moves the show to an earlier slot to compete with the juggernaut \u201cLost\u201d on ABC. This is entirely fabricated for the film, but it gives Pattinson another reason to get unhinged, and that\u2019s why you want to see this movie.<\/p>\n
The film\u2019s opening shot features Pattinson preening in front of a mirror as an intensified version of the television persona Chris Hansen. Think Rod Serling. The voice sells it as Pattinson rehearses his lines like an actor about to hit the stage. \u201cYou see how this looks, right?\u201d His newscaster cadence, drawn out and hitting all the right inflections, is on point. Listening to him read the suspects\u2019 online chats is cringy yet captivating. Pattinson stayed in character between takes to avoid losing the dialect.<\/p>\n
A scene where Hansen appears at the top of the stairs, looks down at the suspect below, and hits him with a barrage of questions as he descends feels like a \u201cTwilight Zone\u201d moment, enhanced by the grainy footage and found-footage horror feel. \u201cPedophile Activity?\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the scenes when the cameras aren\u2019t rolling, as Hansen unravels and loses his grip on reality, that make Pattinson\u2019s performance one of the best of the year. We watch as he juggles being exposed by The National Enquirer for an extramarital affair, his persistence in keeping Decoy Dan from quitting, and the pursuit of the ultimate predator, or \u201cwhale,\u201d which leads to Murphy, Texas, and a gun-happy police chief (Bokeem Woodbine) ready to dispense Southern justice, before tragedy strikes and it all falls apart.<\/p>\n
Hansen may be calling the shots, but it\u2019s his alter ego, producer Andie Bender (a fantastic Merritt Wever), who proves to be the show\u2019s VIP. She keeps everyone in check, including the suits, Team Predator, and Hansen\u2019s ego. The character is a fictional composite of several producers, once again blurring the line between truth and entertainment. Which, when you think about it, is exactly what \u201cTo Catch a Predator\u201d was all about.<\/p>\n
(3 \u00bd stars)<\/p>\n
Now showing in theaters<\/p>\n
This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/09\/28\/primetime-review-robert-pattinson-plays-chris-hansen-like-rod-serling-while-delivering-one-of-this-years-best-performances\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org”>Fort Worth Report<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n
<img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/?republication-pixel=true&post=806520&ga4=2820184429″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/09\/28\/primetime-review-robert-pattinson-plays-chris-hansen-like-rod-serling-while-delivering-one-of-this-years-best-performances\/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } <\/script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/fortworthreport.org\/p.js”><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Joe Friar, Fort Worth Report September 28, 2026 The subject matter is dark in Lance Oppenheim\u2019s narrative…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451194,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117,7986],"class_list":["post-451193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news","tag-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}