Primetime

thefilmcritics

26 Sep 2026 · via TMDb

4.0

A true-crime story this inherently bizarre should not require much embellishment, yet *Primetime* spends so much energy dressing itself up that the actual story gets buried underneath the filmmaking. What could have been a sharp, uncomfortable examination of television, celebrity, and the ethics of true crime instead becomes a frustratingly uneven film that mistakes stylistic excess for substance. Robert Pattinson gives a pretty good performance as Chris Hansen, bringing enough conviction to make the central figure compelling even when the screenplay does not. The supporting cast is strong as well. Skyler Gisondo makes an impression as the adult decoy pretending to be an underage boy, while Merritt Wever brings welcome dimension as the show’s producer. There are also genuinely interesting ideas scattered throughout the film, particularly in its examination of how media can commoditize real human suffering into entertainment. The problem is that *Primetime* rarely develops its ideas into a cohesive story. It often feels less like a narrative and more like a collection of scenes placed next to one another. The result makes it difficult for viewers to become invested in what is happening or, more importantly, in the characters involved. Its aesthetic ambitions are particularly exhausting. The fuzzy mid-2000s look is clearly deliberate, and there is nothing wrong with leaning into the visual language of the period. Here, though, the music, lighting, camera angles, and visual flourishes are pushed so aggressively that the movie starts announcing its artistry rather than letting it emerge naturally. There is a compelling story underneath all the smoke and mirrors, which makes the constant insistence on style feel less like enrichment and more like distraction. The heavier issue is how much the film dramatizes real events and real people. Using real names and identities while taking substantial creative liberties creates an uncomfortable disconnect, particularly in the portrayal of Hansen himself. The film's portrayal of real-life subjects can make some of its choices feel less like artistic interpretation and more like borderline defamation. Hansen himself has publicly criticized the film, which only makes the question of how responsibly it treats people difficult to ignore. You see how this looks, right? There are also moments where the dramatization crosses into genuinely uncomfortable territory. The film’s treatment of SA and mental health issues can feel glib and insensitive. For example, the portrayal of the true story of a man who unalived himself while caught in the *To Catch A Predator* investigations is difficult to digest. That was a real human being who faced a genuinely tragic ending, **not** merely a fictional plot device, and the lack of respect taken toward a serious subject matter invites questions that the movie does not seem particularly interested in answering. Additionally, the creative choice to make the main decoy exclusively male feels conspicuously constructed. The primarily male-on-male encounters feel unrealistic, existing solely to insert the male decoy into the story as a main character. That is unfortunate because beneath the excess is a worthwhile film trying to get out. *Primetime* has something meaningful to say about the ethics of true-crime entertainment, the machinery of television, and the uncomfortable relationship between public spectacle and private suffering. But its lack of nuance turns complicated questions into an overly tidy division between good guys and bad guys. The satire gets lost in the dramatization, and the film's strongest observations are repeatedly smothered by its need to make everything bigger, darker, and more cinematic. Ultimately, *Primetime* is a case of flash over substance. Pattinson and the supporting cast do solid work, and there are enough provocative ideas here to make the film worth discussing, but the execution repeatedly gets in its own way. When the real story is already compelling, inventing so much around it feels unnecessary—and, in some cases, ethically questionable.