Primetime (2026) Review
THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
There is always a price to pay when it comes breaking everything possible to do what’s your absolute.
PLOT
Inspired by Luke Dittrich’s Esquire article, “Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die”, 2026’s Primetime is a stylized biopic centered on journalist Chris Hansen, who became a successful television star for hosting Dateline NBC’s ‘To Catch a Predator’, a reality series centered on sting operations that expose adult men trying to meet minors online. Besides producer Andie Becher, the main people involved in the operation involved Del Harvey (Phoebe Bridgers) as a decoy actor and Perverted Justice founder Xavier Von Erck who engages with potential predators online and lures them out first as a vigilante. The story’s present takes place in 2006, after apprehending an ex marine to be a predator. Aware of the series’ success, NBC head Jeff Zucker gives them a Primetime slot to compete with ABC’s Lost. When shooting Fort Meyers, Florida, Dan Plum is recruited to be the new decoy. While he’s at first caught off guard of a predator exposing himself to him, he does eventually adapts overtime to his surroundings and actually admire Hansen. While Andie contemplates on joining “What Would You Do?”, Hansen gains much stress over the fact of being caught by National Enquirer photographers of him cheating on his wife Mary Joan (Anna Faris), with another woman named Kristyn Caddell (Caroline Hebert). As this threat gets in his head, he consumes himself with his work and explains to Dan what they’re doing is cleansing the world of ancient evil, sharing with him how he once saw an entity of such when doing an investigation report of missing children in India years prior. Hansen would also talk to Xavier of potentially doing episodes in Texas when getting a fan letter from said state. This inspired the latter to do some research of potential predators and believes there is one in Denton so secretive that he could be a government official. Chris becomes so sure of how this can get them the biggest of ratings should it be true that he cancels shooting in New Jersey to go to Texas. As Andie officially turns down “What Would You Do?”, the Predator hunting team meets Rockwell’s Chief of Police Cortland Gunn, who ambitiously wanted to work with them to clean up his community and garner public attention. After more days of online chat, the predator officially gives up his phone number and when looking up said number, everyone would be in shock to know the monster is in fact assistant district attorney Bill Conradt. Rather than let the predator come to them, they decide going to him at his home which breaks the protocol of the show. Just upon reaching Conradt’s home does Chris get a call from Mary Joan that National Enquirer is going public with photos of his affair. Although Dan is able to get Conradt on the phone hoping to get him outside, the attorney instead shoots himself in shame of his intentions. As Andie tries figuring out how to salvage the episode, Chris would break down in tears while also seeing the same entity in the woods that he saw in India. As Conradt’s death resulted in the cancellation of To Catch a Predator, the film would end with Dan still getting his SAG membership card a year later like he always wanted.
THOUGHTS
As of 2026, I am age 28 and yet I feel older because of how we’re getting more biopics based on 21st century pop culture. It just comes to show how fast life and history can happen in the blink of an eye. I always knew we’d get some kind of movie centered on Chris Hansen and his success with ‘To Catch A Predator’, but I never expected one where the fictionalized aspects for the sake of suspension would be very obvious. I straight up dug the production design by Alex DiGerlando because not only did he match the aesthetics of the houses used for the show, but even nailed the continuity of what was on 2006 cable. I mean I got gitty seeing Heroes, Smallville and WWE’s Smackdown on the scheduled wall in Zucker’s office because that is what I remember watching most at the time. And yes, I’m with the demographic that Joey wasn’t that good of a spinoff for Friends. Ironically, the movie’s big selling point is the lead performance of Robert Pattinson as Hansen, but his approach towards the role has been mostly debunked by those who worked with him besides hearing it from Hansen himself. His affair did not happen until after Conradt died, he didn’t have an obsession to top Stone Phillips (Bill Heck) in terms of ratings, he didn’t freeze when he confronted the rabbi predator, never refused to participate in any sting nor did he ever yell at anyone like the decoy actors as depicted here or any other crew member for that matter. There were multiple producers involved in the show alongside Lynn Keller who Andie Bender is based off of, but she was never exactly an ambitious workaholic the way Merritt Wever depicts her. I think the reason she and Hansen are depicted in such a caricature has to be because writer Ajon Singh is reminding us the importance of knowing the difference between exploitation and public service. It’s one thing to do good for others but if cameras are involved, make sure your heart is still there otherwise you’ll forget your why. At the end of the day, Hansen is still a man that is proud of what came from the show. As a father, he knows he’s protecting kids by exposing as much people as possible. All ambition aside, this movie does not make the predators victims at all. Tony Revolori’s “MarriedAndLookingForFun313131”, Bob Ari’s “Redbd” and Jonathan Lipnicki’s “Crazyfrog73” were all shocking examples on how dark the world is. I mean you just feel the same vulnerability as Decoy Dan when the latter predator sprays whipped cream on his penis before Hansen intervenes. I mean that’s just something you can’t defend at all. Hell, I just had a stomach ache once we reached Dave Fierro’s “Raysfan22”. Like I just couldn’t process how even handicaps have these dark thoughts. This all sets you up for the big whammy that even government officials that are supposed to be role models of leaders being just as monstrous deep down. Alex Winter gave a big 180 as Bill Conradt as the kind of individual who is a gigantic hypocrite of everything he is supposed to stand for, coming off as an ideal people person when in actuality being such a monster behind closed doors. Even when Bokeem Woodbine starts out making Cortland a guy who chose to work with Hansen for clout but the second he found out about Conradt, a guy he knew, he definitely understood the purpose of the show. I was also quite enamored seeing Matthew Maher portray Xavier Von Erck as the most dedicated of people in the line of work he involves himself with and it’s a shame Perverted Justice went defunct in 2019. Oddly enough, this narrative sets up Dan Plumb as the one you want to root for. You straight up feel bad for him to be flashed by a predator when Dateline could’ve further explained in the casting call what he was getting involved with. Portrayed by Skyler Gisondo that is heavily inspired by Dan Schrack, he is most isolated from what he had in mind. As an actor, he thought he knew the difference between fiction & reality until it was more the latter than he was able to prepare for. You do respect him for holding down one sting without Hansen (which never happened) because it was his way to control the situation for a change and to prove his range, not to be defined by his fears. Sadly, he was in the burden being the last person Conradt spoke to before his death and that’s just something no one can ever prepare for. It was right for him to walk away from what was supposed to be a dream job, but at least it led the real Dan to find a second calling in journalism, proving how much of a good influence Hansen must have been. In short, Lance Oppenheim directs an explosive narrative of the broadcast world that is Primetime. If that’s the kind of storytelling you prefer, fiction or nonfiction, check this out.
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