Primetime Movie Review: Pattinson Shines, Story Falters

Robert Pattinson is outstanding as Chris Hansen in Primetime, the darkly funny, if underdeveloped, story of an unlikable man determined to make the world burn.

It’s 2006. The show is “To Catch A Predator,” a television program that seeks to unmask child predators, and our host is in his element. Right away, we watch as a man (Tony Revolori) arrives at the home of what he believes to be his underage ‘date’, while an almost feral Hansen hides, waiting for his time to shine. Almost immediately, the girl excuses herself for a moment, leaving the room, and our ‘prey’ starts to realize that something might be wrong there. That’s when Hansen makes his entry, absolutely thriving as he descends the house’s staircase reading the stranger’s own inappropriate texts back to him, savoring the spotlight even more when the man starts to unravel.

“I don’t want any of this for you,” we hear Chris Hansen say, “At the end of the day, a man must be held accountable for the decisions that he makes.” When we meet him, the host is at the height of his career, having just been given the primetime slot he’s always wanted: his only concern is making each show louder and more exciting than what came before in order to beat the popular series Lost in the ratings. Little does Hansen know that very statement will come back to haunt him, and eventually lead to his downfall.

With such a promising true story as its core, Primetime had the potential to explore so many timely themes, and at first, it does just that. The movie’s intriguing first act starts to approach a series of compelling subjects, from our society’s obsession with spectacle to the birth of modern reality TV and those addictive “gotcha” moments that give us free rein to judge complete strangers, inflating our egos and riling us up. And then, there’s the morally fascinating matter of a man in a position of power – moved not by compassion or a desire to do good but by a God complex – who sets out to catch a predator, turning the latter into his prey and becoming a predator himself.

Sadly, Primetime loses itself before it even starts to fully delve into any of these topics, and the result is a film that doesn’t really know what it wants to say. Screenwriter Ajon Singh introduces several subplots involving Hansen and most of the other characters, yet many are either left unresolved or turn out not to be relevant by the time the end credits roll. It all culminates in an underwhelming, confusing final act that shifts the film’s focus altogether.

Even worse, Chris Hansen himself remains a mystery to us, as what we grasp about the television host in the film’s compelling opening scenes is essentially all the movie keeps telling us about him, without ever drawing any conclusions. The film suffers from similar issues with its tone, as all the intense, grandiose scenes of Hansen being his narcissistic self work really well in the first half but are overused in the second, eventually losing their impact.

It’s such a shame, because there’s also a lot to like in Primetime. This is a very funny movie, with several scenes that will have you in stitches thanks to the screenplay’s rhythm and the cast’s impeccable timing. One in particular sees Hansen record the voiceover for a television promo to “To Catch A Predator,” obsessively repeating the same line over and over again to get the cadence right, and becoming increasingly Midwestern every time. Robert Pattinson was clearly having a blast here, and there are many more sequences in the film where his flawless line delivery and body language make for some highly entertaining, wonderfully absurd moments. Particularly in the first half of the movie, you won’t be able to take your eyes off him.

Merritt Wever excels at portraying a very different kind of unlikable character – one whose methods are quieter and subtler, but who can be just as destructive to those around her. And Skyler Gisondo (Superman) is bound to impress you as Daniel “Decoy Dan” Plumb – to use the superhero name Hansen invents to make him feel like he’s playing a cool role on NBC that people will remember him for, rather than being exploited to lure gay men to their fake house. Dan is one of the best-written characters in the movie, but it’s Gisondo’s commitment to the role that makes him feel so likable and authentic, getting us to root for him from the very start.

Ultimately, Primetime wastes the opportunity to explore some incredibly fascinating, timely topics, failing to fully delve into who Chris Hansen is and to connect what we see in the film to our current society. That said, if you just want to have a good time with a movie that uses an unusual true story to entertain and give you something to think about, you’ll probably enjoy Primetime, and the acting alone makes it worth the watch.

Primetime had its World Premiere at the 2026 Venice Film Festival on September 5, 2026. The film will be released in US theatres on September 25, 2026 and in UK and Irish cinemas in autumn this year.