Euronews Culture's Film of the Week: 'Primetime' - Robert Pattinson needs to catch his predator (and ratings)
Lance Oppenheim’s narrative debut features a masterful turn from Robert Pattinson in a dark media satire about blurring the lines between journalism and exploitation. Primetime will fascinate and occasionally frustrate as a surface-level mood piece.
Primetime invites viewers into the former heyday of the reality TV series To Catch a Predator. The drama is directed by Lance Oppenheimer, who collaborated with Nathan Fielder on Elizabeth Holmes' biopic, You Can See Everything. The documentary Predators released last year extensively scrutinized the practices of To Catch a Predator and how it inspired similar, less responsible imitators.
This led to a shift in Chris Hansen's image, a journalist once revered for his journalistic prowess. Now, in Primetime, he is portrayed as a fame-seeking monster. Robert Pattinson delivers a scarily accurate and exaggerated interpretation of Hansen, transforming his English accent into a stern American anchor tone. Pattinson's portrayal, reminiscent of Jake Gyllenhaal's in Nightcrawler or Christian Bale's in American Psycho, enhances the psychological thriller aspect of the film.
Pattinson's performance is sensational, effectively positioning the audience to question the true persona of Chris Hansen behind his mask of journalistic respectability.
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