Primetime By Lance Oppenheim
A Review of Primetime, a film by Lance Oppenheim, starring Robert Pattinson
*DISCLAIMER: SPOILERS WILL BE LABELED*
Whiskey’s Garage
Film Talk
Volume 5
02/10/2026
Primetime By Lance Oppenheim
Release Date: September 25th, 2026
Runtime: 1:50
Budget: $15 Million
Director: Lance Oppenheim (Some Kind of Heaven, Spermworld)
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Phoebe Bridgers, Skyler Gisondo
Synopsis: “In 2006, To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen sets out to make television history.” - IMDb Description
Primetime is a new 2026 psychological thriller from director Lance Oppenheim and A24 Studios. The film follows Robert Pattinson, playing Chris Hansen, the host of Dateline NBC’s program “To Catch a Predator." A24 has stated that the film is “inspired by true events”, rather than a biopic, so it will be interesting to see how accurate it really is. Chris Hansen himself has been all over the news and media, slamming the film and being very critical of it. Hansen stated this about Robert Pattinson’s performance: “This version of Chris Hansen [is] so detached, so unhinged, so dark, so unlikeable. I mean, it’s upset my colleagues, current and former”, and also called the film a “hit piece” on himself. During the making and the lead-up to the release of the film, Hansen and A24 were not on the best of terms. Hansen apparently left A24 Studios in August without seeing the film, due to a battle over legal documents they wanted signed. Hansen was also upset over the lack of input he had in the creation of the film, reporting that the neither A24 or any of the filmmakers reached out to him until the film was already completed. As a big fan of Robert Pattinson’s work, I’ve been excited for the release of this one.
My full thoughts are below.
First off, Robert Pattinson is phenomenal. His performance is easily the best part of this movie. His ability to shape his voice in so many different roles is stunning, and this time, he sounds exactly like Chris Hansen. His mannerisms and his voice are 1-to-1 (from what I’ve seen of Hansen). Unfortunately, the film falls off track quickly with the story approach they took, and I see why Chris Hansen is upset about how the film portrays him. This story makes Hansen out to look like an almost-evil, ratings-crazed, deadbeat cheating father. It’s very odd. I personally don’t know a ton about To Catch a Predator, but I’m assuming this story isn’t very accurate, which is a fine route to take if it were at least a bit more captivating. The story follows Hansen and his journey as the host, along with some issues in his personal life, but it equally follows Skyler Gisondo as “Decoy Dan”, the actor playing the little boy luring in the predators. This was an interesting subplot, exploring the mental toll of being face-to-face with child predators while also trying to make a name for yourself in Hollywood. They leaned into this story almost as much as Hansen’s, and it worked, it was done pretty decently. To me, it just felt like the entire story didn’t come together great. It really feels like a movie that just didn’t have to be made. There is no real, true, deep single story here, it just sort of follows the events. At times, they really overdramatize the story as well, in places it just didn’t need to happen, which again made me think, “why is this getting made?” It wasn’t a bad film by any means, it just felt like a reach. On the bright side, the set design, the camerawork, and the editing were amazing. There were tons of great set pieces and tropes that gave it an authentic 2006 feel. Old camera shots through the lens of grainy hidden cameras were used a great amount as well, given that hidden-cam show feel. The audio through those scenes matched up perfectly with the aesthetic it gave off. Overall, this part was very well done. The editing and effects were also very well done, giving the film a special throwback feel, but during a few scenes the effects were overdone and overedited, making it almost tough to watch with everything going on. It was a rare occurrence, but it did happen unfortunately. The film has a clear A24 aesthetic to it, with the muted colours and pillarboxed view, it’s clearly an A24 film. The 4:3 grainy aspect ratio gives the hidden-cam scenes a distinct feel too. Lastly, I’d say the soundtrack was good, there wasn’t much of it throughout the movie, but it was fine when it was there.
*SPOILER WARNING*SPOILER WARNING**SPOILER WARNING**SPOILER WARNING**SPOILER WARNING*
Not a ton of pieces to spoil, and the ending of the story is actually public knowledge and led to the ending/cancellation of To Catch a Predator. Essentially, a congressman predator they are going to expose kills himself, but it is so overdramatized leading up to it that it almost starts to feel silly. Then, when it finally happens, all that tension climaxes, and they ruin it with a poor joke that didn’t land. It was just a bit underwhelming.
*END OF SPOILERS*END OF SPOILERS**END OF SPOILERS**END OF SPOILERS**END OF SPOILERS*
Overall, I did like it, but it’s not perfect. The acting performances were great, the editing was well done, and the sets were great. But the story approach and some weird decisions ultimately took away from it.
RATING - How well I think the movie is made. The dialogue, the production, the acting. Objectively, how good of a film it is. Out of 100%
ENJOYMENT - How much I personally enjoyed the film. Subjectively and based on the genre heading into it. Out of 100%
IMMERSIVENESS - How captivating I felt the film was. How well it brings you into the world they are building and makes you forget reality. How often I was fully intrigued. Out of 100%
Rating: 72%
Enjoyment: 70%
Immersiveness: 60%
(All Scores are personal opinions)
PROS:
Robert Pattinson
Editing
Set Pieces
CONS:
Story
Overedited scenes
OSCAR NOMS (Thoughts)
Best Actor: I could see Pattinson getting a nomination for this. Not an absolute guarantee, but a decent chance. He was excellent
Best Editing: Again, probably unlikely, but the way they made it feel early-2000s was great.
