An unsettling film about a disturbing topic—child predators—benefits from strong performances and a distinctive cinematic approach. Prepare to squirm. Robert Pattinson (Odyssey villain and Twilight dreamboat) stars in director Lance Oppenheim’s drama about real-life Chris Hansen, the NBC Dateline star whose “To Catch a Predator” took America’s airwaves by storm.
Like Network (1976) and Broadcast News (1987), Primetime does a good job depicting the cutthroat world of network television.

Producer Andie Bender (Merritt Wever) treads a fine line between exploiting her crew to get the story she wants and taking care of her team, dispensing medication after a stressful day. When another show tries to poach her, we see the lengths to which a has-been female executive, Patty Patterson (Jessica Hecht), will go. “I dominated a lot of space at this network, and I understand what you are worth,” she tells Bender. When Bender turns her down, Patterson responds, “Okay, but let me know when you get tired of the gutter.”

Network brass know the series is morally reprehensible: The showrunners lure potential predators to a suburban house through internet chat sessions, posing as vulnerable teens. When the man arrives, the “decoy” gets him to reveal his intentions before quickly exiting—just in time for Hansen’s grand entrance. He proceeds to humiliate the man before sending him outside to be arrested on camera. The cooperating police forces waiting nearby suggest the increasing militarization of policing in America.

Despite the disdain he receives from other NBC anchors, Hansen can’t help himself when the network president, played by real-life Jeff Zucker, offers him a primetime slot opposite the No. 1 show in 2006, Lost. The offer comes with strings attached: Hansen needs to find a “white whale” in the form of a highly respected public official lurking in the dark corners of the web. The usual perverts won’t cut it in the new timeslot.

Oppenheim spoke to NPR about “performative punishment”—like public floggings and the stocks in Puritan New England—as a precursor to Hansen’s televised humiliation. But when one storyline ends in tragedy, we’re left questioning whether another intervention might have been more appropriate. The topic of child predation is certainly more complex than this film allows. Like “To Catch a Predator,” Primetime leans on sensationalism as it panders to its audience.

Oppenheim shows promise as a director, handling a complicated story with visual panache. He also draws excellent performances from his cast, including Skyler Gisondo as “Decoy Dan.” Dan’s story illustrates the lengths a would-be actor will go to obtain a Screen Actors Guild card. Based on Luke Dittrich’s 2007 Esquire article, “Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die,” the film remains silent on the impact this “role” might have on Dan’s future well-being.

According to Oppenheim, the film was not easy to get made. Credit goes to Pattinson, who also served as executive producer, and to A24, known for taking on edgy, unusual projects. The film’s $19 million opening weekend has already recouped its $15 million production cost—a promising sign for risk-taking in a marketplace saturated with franchises.