You See How Primetime Looks, Right? Pretty Good!

Lance Oppenheim’s new Chris Hansen biopic wastes no time plunging you into the surreal, shocking world of the hit show “To Catch a Predator.” Despite hiccups here and there, it’s a captivating film that highlights the remarkable potential of its cast and crew. 

The film is gorgeous, shot on grungy, intimate 16mm by cinematographer David Bolen, and colored less like a run-of-the-mill biopic and more like a maximalist nightmare of 2000s excess. Paired with propulsive, cleverly obtrusive editing from Daniel Garber, “Primetime” is a joy to look at, employing visual fourth-wall breaks that question the nature of our spectatorship and, for the most part, serve Oppenheim’s distinctive aesthetic. 

The movie presents a necessarily nuanced, sometimes inscrutable portrait of Hansen that makes the character compelling and alluring. Although the side plots of the supporting cast fall flat with a general lack of narrative inventiveness, the overall structure keeps you on your toes, building slowly but surely to a stunning conclusion. There are a handful of questionable scenes and digressions that muddy up the singular focus of the film (in particular the underwhelming coda that flattens the impact of the climax), but on the whole, “Primetime” remains just propulsive and mysterious enough to capture your attention. 

As far as the performances, the marketing of the film in relation to Robert Pattinson’s appearance has been inescapable. The lead actor (and Hollywood’s current obsession) does a wonderful job of capturing the kookier edges of Hansen’s mannerisms with a big performance that feels like a shoo-in for a Best Actor nomination. Despite the film’s opposing efforts to engage us on an emotional, achingly human level while sustaining a more cynical, satirical separation from the characters, Pattinson straddles and bridges these two poles with canny work and faint shades of Joaquin Phoenix. 

Alongside Pattinson, Skyler Gisondo (“Licorice Pizza,” “The Righteous Gemstones”) has been widely praised for his supporting work as Dan, a “decoy” who poses as a teenage boy for the show. The typically comedic actor is adept at tapping into a darker register while still retaining his boyish charm and unflinching sweetness. It’s a strong performance that proves his tremendous potential as an actor, but the real star of the show is Merritt Wever as Hansen’s do-it-all producer Andie, putting in exceptional work as the sometimes likeable, sometimes deplorable guiding hand struggling to hold the madness together. Phoebe Bridgers, Bokeem Woodbine (with some remarkable facial hair), and Anna Faris round out the needlessly glitzy ensemble, and the always-delightful Eric Rahill is pitch perfect in his comic relief bit part.

All in all, the film is a wonderful fiction debut for Oppenheim, who has already proved himself as one of modern documentary cinema’s premium stylists with “Some Kind of Heaven” and “Spermworld.” While he misfires here and there and Pattinson’s stardom occasionally threatens to swallow the film entirely, it’s a promising if overdirected start for a director who’s going to be around in Hollywood for a long, long time. “Primetime” might not be the movie of the year, but you’d be mistaken for passing up the opportunity to “have a seat right there” and get lost in the timeless sleaze and cynicism of Oppenheim’s sharp thriller.

Lucas Chiorini is a member of the class of 2029 and can be reached at lchiorini@wesleyan.edu.