Lance Oppenheim's 'Primetime' Revisits 'To Catch a Predator' with Robert Pattinson as Chris Hansen

Lance Oppenheim's narrative feature debut 'Primetime,' written by Ajon Singh, dramatizes the rise and fall of the reality-TV phenomenon 'To Catch a Predator.' The film is set in 2006 and stars Robert Pattinson as host Chris Hansen and Merritt Wever as producer Andie Bender. It depicts the show's trap format: men soliciting sex with minors arrive at a rigged suburban house, are greeted by an adult decoy, then confronted by Hansen with chat transcripts before being arrested outside by police. The cast includes Skyler Gisondo as decoy Dan Plum, Matthew Maher as online vigilante Xavier Von Erck, and cameos by Tony Revolori, Jonathan Lipnicki, and Alex Winter as targets. Jeff Zucker plays himself, and Bill Heck appears as 'Dateline' anchor Stone Phillips. The film climaxes with the 2006 suicide of a would-be predator that led to the show's cancellation. Oppenheim's previous documentaries include 'Some Kind of Heaven' (2021) and 'Spermworld' (2024), both shot by David Bolen, who also lensed 'Primetime.' The review notes the film's squarish frame, oversaturated colors, and grubby textures evoking the era, but criticizes its lack of deeper analysis, especially compared to David Osit's 2025 documentary 'Predators.' Hansen left NBC in 2013 and has said he considered a sting against Jeffrey Epstein in 2015. The review appears in The New Yorker, dated October 5, 2026.