‘Primetime’: There’s More Than One Way to Be a Sicko

One of the recurring themes of Lance Oppenheim’s documentaries is how people seek to assert their power as a means of identity. You can see this most clearly in his three-part docuseries Ren Faire, where the political machinations of a Texas renaissance fair take on huge stakes for the participants, as they talk about “wanting to be the king” and “pledging loyalty.” They’re legends in their own minds even if their ambitions are petty and self-serving. That same approach carries over well to Primetime, which is far more than a skewering of Dateline: To Catch a Predator and its host Chris Hansen. Oppenheim expands his focus to see all the players involved, and how their sense of righteousness is mere pretext for the glory and recognition they seek in domination. For these people, humiliating pedophiles is great, but what would be even better is beating Lost in the ratings share.

Chris Hansen (Robert Pattinson) and his producer Andie Bender (Merritt Weaver) have partnered with Xavier Von Erck (Matthew Maher) and his organization Perverted Justice. The group poses as minors online to attract pedophiles, lures them to a location, and once there, Hansen comes out to humiliate the target before their arrest by local law enforcement. Dan Plumb (Skyler Gisondo) is an aspiring actor who stumbles into the role of an underage decoy due to his youthful looks and becomes convinced by Chris that this is a great career opportunity. Chris and Andie also believe this is their ticket to the top, especially after NBC boss Jeff Zucker (as himself) puts them in primetime. However, Chris’ desire to deliver bigger ratings while hiding his own secrets starts to push the production to its edge.

The clearest influences on Primetime, aside from Oppenheim’s distinctive, surreal style, are other tales of media at its most sociopathic: Network, To Die For, and Nightcrawler. Hansen, Bender, Von Erck, and Plumb are all, to varying degrees, seeking a rush from the performance and the control that performance provides. Our first look at Hansen isn’t his reporting or researching; it’s him rehearsing lines from the grotesque text exchanges that he plans to read back to the unsuspecting pedophile. When he comes to confront “MarriedAndLookingForFun31313” (Tony Revolori), Hansen emerges from behind a curtain like a magician, stepping onto a stage and ready to perform his act. The gravity of the situation is an afterthought. No one here is all that concerned about children. Chris barely sees his own kids, and when he does, he wakes them out of bed in the middle of the night so they can watch him on To Catch a Predator. What matters is the show, and the adrenaline hit of nailing it.

Pattinson is perfect as Hansen, not only because he captures the voice and mannerisms, but because he also taps into the unhinged side of the character’s drive. There’s a hefty dose of Jake Gyllenhaal’s Louis Bloom and Nicole Kidman’s Suzanne Stone—characters who demand to be seen, and whose narcissism is a fiery, destructive force they refuse to recognize. One could argue that the dramatizations here are unfair to the real Hansen, but I would counter that Hansen, who had full control over depicting others on To Catch a Predator and his current, similar work, is in no position to argue. At least with the surreal patina and psychedelic approach combined with Pattinson’s more outlandish touches, Oppenheim doesn’t pretend this is 100% reality, which is more than can be said for the façade of journalism surrounding To Catch a Predator.

But this isn’t just The Chris Hansen Story. Everyone here is playing a role, and we can see how they’re chasing the next dopamine high. Abbie is underappreciated by both Chris and Xavier, but she loves the power of calling the shots in the control room while she smacks her chewing gum. Xavier relishes playing the role of an alluring minor in chat, wrapped in the power of catfishing pedophiles. And Dan, the closest the movie has to a moral center (especially with Gisondo giving a terrific, empathetic performance), wants this to lead to more acting work. The supposed mission here of protecting children from sexual predators just isn’t a primary concern to these people, and while the movie never defends pedophiles (every one of the targets is rendered so immediately grotesque and off-putting that I imagine there was some embarrassment for these actors in admitting they landed the role), it’s also interrogating other perversions and the lengths people will go to satisfy their desires.

That can make for a delicate tightrope where you want to sell the seriousness of their destruction while also noting them as buffoons. This leads to some incredibly dark and weird comedy. Pattinson is the ideal choice to lead such a project as there’s always been an undercurrent of strangeness to his matinee idol looks. Even Edward Cullen in Twilight is kind of a big, old weirdo, and Pattinson’s Batman is defined more by trauma than strength. But there’s also the undercurrent of Pattinson’s comic timing here, as seen in stuff like Good Time, The Odyssey, and The King. When he answers the phone from his wife by saying, “Chris Hansen, Dateline NBC,” it further highlights the character’s ongoing pretensions.

Primetime is not the story of noble intentions gone awry but how quickly the desire for recognition and attention—the crux of power in the media—will twist anyone, and how such behavior is not only rewarded but encouraged. We recoil not because Hansen has lost sight of his mission, but because the pretext of the mission burnishes his most toxic impulses. And in the scheme of things, his ambitions are petty. He glowers at NBC’s anchor Stone Phillips, believing that Stone’s success should be his. But I’d imagine most audience members would wonder, “Whatever happened to Stone Phillips?” So much of media is ephemeral, and so, ironically, Primetime emphasizes how Hansen and this ethos have endured. Everyone wants to be seen, and through social media, we’re all stars of our own reality TV shows. But as Primetime shows, the true “reality” is far more primal and desperate than the grinning, confident performance.

Primetime opens in theaters on September 25.

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