Primetime, the latest triumph from Lance Oppenheim, follows the life of Chris Hansen as To Catch A Predator sees unparalleled success as he sets out to make television history. But when a high-stakes operation goes fatally wrong, he sees his carefully manufactured dream of fame crumble. Truly unlike anything we have seen this year, Oppenheim quickly cements himself as one of the greats, with this. Robert Pattinson takes on perhaps his biggest role of his career, so far and it quickly becomes clear that he is one of the greatest actors of this generation. He is able to so perfectly blend himself in with the character that you almost lose track of where Pattinson ends and the character begins. Every movement, every word spoken, every microaggression. Pattinson presents almost a caricature of Hansen that makes him feel more like a work of fiction than a man.
When the film first begins, we see Hansen as he prepares for a taping of their show, reciting some of the things the predators have been messaging to one of the decoys. He seems to recite it in such a deadpan and monotone manner that only makes the audience think he’s become desensitized to the matter at hand, he has removed himself from the spectacle and sees it as nothing more than a regular day job. We see this paralleled again right at the very end of the film before it cuts to the credits. To have the first and last thing Hansen says on screen furthers this idea that he is the show. It has become intrinsically tied into who he is as a person and controls almost every aspect of his life, which is reflected in the glimpses we see of his homelife. He has become detached to his life and his family. It begs the question, who is Chris Hansen without the show? The choice to not show his life after the show ended only furthers this. Because, in a way, his life ends when the show does. The show was the only thing keeping him going, his driving force. And when he sees that slipping down the drain, he sees his life with it. The show has become a sort of coping mechanism, something for him to lean on when his life is starting to fall apart. And when he doesn’t have that, his life completely falls apart. He has completely lost himself in an effort to succeed, he has almost placed himself in the mind of a predator in order to catch them. Even now, Hansen clings on to the success of the show and refuses to let it go because that is all he’s ever been known for and he cannot stomach a life where he isn’t known.
What worked well, with this film, is that it presented itself as such a meta commentary on the way the world of television takes these injustices and turns them into something marketable that is sure to earn a profit. They turn it into a grand spectacle to be watched and, in a way, almost take away from the seriousness of the situation because they are working so hard to make sure it’s entertaining and watchable. But then again, maybe the only way to get people’s attention to the darker truths of the world is to paint them in an entertaining light. While talking about great performances, we need to talk about Skyler Gisondo, who plays the role of decoy Dan. If anything, he deserves the most credit for his role in this film. He became such a standout role in such a stacked ensemble, making himself known amongst the noise. The way he was able to so easily switch between the voice of a thirteen year old boy and Hansen himself, with a near perfect impression, was astonishing and truly worth noting. The juxtaposition of Dan recounting the story Hansen had told him about his time in India was excellent, we got a true insight as to where this inherent need to cleanse evil, this obsession with righting the wrongs of the world came from. It is in that moment that we see Dan adopt that same mentality. He has started to remove himself emotionally from these situations in order to get the job done.
Merritt Wever stole the show. As one of the only female cast members, alongside Phoebe Bridgers, she’s really able to differentiate herself and command a scene which only seemed to work in her favour for the character. The character of Andie Bender is inherently very serious and deadpan, she is there to do her job and she doesn’t have any time for messing around. There was an almost maternal tone to her, she seemed to both care for Hansen as though she was a doting mother and yet reprimand him as though he was a misbehaving child at the same time. It became almost as though she was mocking him with her tone. Wever is truly such a hidden gem and a force to be reckoned with. The cinematography was mindblowing and truly enhanced the storytelling. As the audience saw Hansen’s life begin to spiral out of his control, the camera angles became more violent and sloppy and the audience could get a real sense of his mental state and spiral alongside him. It painted it as more of a psychological thriller, capturing Hansen and his crew and the world around him in an eerie and unsettling light. The colour grading presented it as something otherworldly, keeping the audience eyes glued to every single scene. Definitely one worth watching, even if you are unfamiliar with the work of Hansen and To Catch A Predator.
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