Primetime Review: Robert Pattinson is Sensational in Wildly Stylish True Crime Psychological Thriller
Venice Film Festival: Fresh off The Odyssey, Pattinson plays To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen as his controversial reality series moves to a coveted 9:00pm slot
by Alex Kaan 5 September 2026
A24
At a Venice Film Festival slightly shorter on seismic Hollywood stars than usual, all eyes are on Robert Pattinson. As one of the most in-demand actors in the industry, having already led another controversial A24 psychological thriller (The Drama) this year alongside playing a slimy villain in Christopher Nolan’s mega-blockbuster The Odyssey, Pattinson is so busy that his latest film almost didn’t make it into the Biennale, only confirming its slot after he got the go-ahead to fly in from the set of The Batman: Part II.
With all that deserved attention — and his ever-growing eclectic resume — it’s no surprise that his already viral performance as Chris Hansen does not disappoint, delivering a gonzo turn surrounded by an equally audacious, genre-hopping film from Lance Oppenheim in his first narrative feature. Veering between satirical comedy and full-blown psychological horror, Primetime reframes the story of the controversial reality series To Catch a Predator as an atmospheric, electric thriller somewhere between Nightcrawler and vintage Brian De Palma.
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Set in 2006, Primetime follows the journalist and TV host as To Catch a Predator, the infamous reality series consisting of sting operations to arrest pedophiles, is moved to NBC Dateline’s prized 9:00pm slot. Hansen and his team — which includes Merritt Wever as head producer Andie Bender; singer Phoebe Bridgers (in her acting debut) as Del Harvey, a decoy who impersonates both young boys and girls; and later Skyler Gisondo as another go-to actor known as “Decoy Dan” — are ecstatic over the news, and even more so at the chance to compete with ABC’s mega-hit sci-fi series Lost.
The consequent tension that drives the film, when Hansen receives the order to chase “high-impact predators” for ratings and finds himself in an obsessive Moby-Dick-esque quest to find a “Whale”, is the same ethical one that plagued the original series: does the TCAP team care more about the views than catching the criminals?
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Achieving a near-unrivalled reputation as a risky character actor, Robert Pattinson is magnetic as Chris Hansen, disappearing into a gonzo performance that is equal parts visceral, funny, and ultimately tragic in what is far from a flattering take on the infamous journalist as he lets both the fame and his self-righteousness go to his head.
With many more scenes sure to be memed, like his delivery of the catchphrase “You see how this looks, right?” in the trailer, Pattinson takes big, big swings, leaning into a theatricality — his opening entrance onto the TCAP set was inspired by Bela Lugosi’s introduction in Dracula — that allows the part-journalist, part-vigilante to be read as a parody of his Batman. That said, this isn’t a caricature, and Pattinson does imbue the role with the required dramatic weight to sell the psychological turmoil.
A surprise is that Skyler Gisondo’s “Decoy Dan”, modelled after real-life decoy Dan Schrack, is perhaps as much the film’s protagonist as Pattinson’s Hansen. Best known as a comedic performer, Gisondo is a standout in a meaty dramatic role as a struggling actor trying to get his SAG card through Hansen’s show, and his one-on-one scenes with Pattinson are a highlight, seeing the film go full De Palma with swelling strings and dynamic camerawork as Hansen tries to convince Dan that he isn’t taking on an acting gig, but rather joining a righteous quest to “[cleanse] the world of an ancient evil”.
A24
Primetime unfolds as a hyper-stylised fever dream, with a surreal, sinister tone accentuated by David Bolen’s lush cinematography — which often uses DV cameras to mimic the look of TCAP — and the film’s soundscape, including Ari Balouzian’s menacing Pino Donaggio-esque score and an aggressive new rock song from Phoebe Bridgers to complement her impressive acting debut.
As with Pattinson’s performance, it is evident that the film is not interested in a sombre, strictly factual recounting of history. Instead, it indulges in the same sensationalism that TCAP applied to the harrowing reality of catching a pedophile in real time. It is curious that the film marks the first narrative feature for Oppenheim, an acclaimed documentarian, but the liberal dramatisation and abundant humour make more sense when considering that the original series incorporated a hefty amount of comedy in its edit.
Driven by an unmissable Robert Pattinson, Primetime is a bold, gripping reimagining of history that doubles as a fascinating revival of psychological thrillers from a bygone era.
Primetime is playing in US theatres from September 25th and in UK theatres from October 30th.