Director Lance Oppenheim and writer Ajon Singh’s Primetime is both a first-rate psychological thriller and a comedy darker than how Dale Cooper takes his coffee. Singh’s script is one that is not afraid of confronting the ethics of the media’s coverage of paedophilia or the entrapment tactics that the film’s subject Chris Hansen was notorious for using on his tv show To Catch A Predator.
While some vocal idiots online claim this is some kind of paedophilia apology movie because it dares to portray Chris Hansen in a deeply flawed light, the film is actually a scathing attack of how the media capitalises on society’s greatest ills in pursuit of increasing their ratings, in a similar vein to movies such as Sidney Lumet’s Network or Billy Wilder’s Ace In The Hole.
Set in 2006, the plot of Primetime focuses on Chris Hansen (Robert Pattinson) at the commercial height of his hidden camera sting operation show To Catch A Predator. While Hansen is the unequivocal protagonist of the story, the movie is a dual narrative between him and the deuteragonist Daniel Plum (Skyler Gisondo) a young actor trying to get a Screen Actors Guild membership card, who takes on the role of decoy on Hansen’s show because it’s steady paid acting work.
The supporting cast of Primetime are all excellent in their respective roles; from Gisondo’s ethically conflicted turn as Daniel, who comes to admire Hansen yet finds himself more and more traumatised as he is increasingly exposed to psychologically damaged sexual predators; to Merrit Weaver as the show’s producer Andie who is ruthless in her goal of making sure To Catch A Predator is the number one show on prime time; to Phoebe Bridgers and Matthew Mehr’s performances as members of Hansen’s crew, with the former surprising me by how good her acting was given that she’s mainly known for being a musician.
However, as good as the supporting cast are, this movie is Robert Pattinson’s – every single scene he’s in he steals the show. Balancing just the right amount of smarm with something altogether more sinister, Oppenheim’s assessment of his performance as a “ cross between Jerry Maguire and Dracula” is absolutely correct. Pattinson’s portrayal of Hansen isn’t just of a man obsessed with tv ratings, but of a lonely man alienated from his family on a one man crusade, haunted by his own personal shortcomings. Pattinson is so convincing that he even nails Hansen’s oft imitated, stupidly memeable vocal ticks and subtle gestures, to the extent that even though they look nothing alike in real life Pattinson transforms into the man himself before your eyes.
As a director Oppenheim mixes a Steadicam documentarian style during the sting operation scenes, specifically to mimic the look of To Catch A Predator, with a mixture of close ups and contrasts of light and dark colours with shadow, creating a noirish look reminiscent of Michael Mann and David Fincher. In particular there is an extended sequence set to the backdrop of a stormy night towards the end of the second act, which is almost Kurosawa-like in the way that it uses the downpour to set the tense, contemplative mood of the scene.
While the movie is ostensibly a psychological thriller, Singh’s script is punctuated by moments of Chris Morris style black comedy, particularly the scenes where Mehr and Bridges’s characters are luring possible wrongdoers To Catch A Predator which are as close to the bone as to seem like something straight out of Brass Eye.
Overall, Primetime is an excellent film with a strong supporting cast anchored by Pattinson giving one of the best performances of his career. While the film does lag a bit at certain points, it’s not to a deal breaking extent at all, and to A24’s credit this movie goes to show that they are one of the few studios in Hollywood that’s willing to take risks, and for that they should be commended.
