#REVIEW: “PRIMETIME”

By Mr. Will Wong

Lance Oppenheim‘s PRIMETIME is a riveting Psychological Horror that looks at a turning point in the ethics of Television, centering on Chris Hansen, who hosted controversial NBC Dateline program, “To Catch a Predator” in the early 2000s. This was the blueprint for what would become reality television.

The said show would have decoy actors posing as minors, luring men on the Internet under the pretense of them meeting for illicit encounters, while they secretly were being recorded by the camera crew, before a subsequently staged arrest by authorities.

In Primetime, our eyes into this dark world is host Chris (Robert Pattinson), who is at the top of his game when we meet him. Gradually, we see his world begin to unravel as his own monsters including indiscretions, come to light, threatening to destroy everything he has built, including his family.

The Film plays like a Horror and is effective as such, keeping us in suspense that something is about to go horribly wrong if not for Hansen, in the least those around him. Blackmail looms against him, while he circles closer and closer to perhaps the biggest hit he’s about to get on his show.

In addition to all the elements being right including Oppenheim‘s direction of this superb Ensemble, and a Screenplay by Ajon Singh, it is David Bolen‘s arthouse Cinematography that creates suspense with the unknown out of sight, and also grainy when moments are uncertain.

Not enough can be said about Pattinson’s (who also serves as Executive Producer) fully-realized performance, taking Hansen from someone who has found his purpose, until he hasn’t anymore. Merritt Wever as his producer Andie Bender, also is fantastic, wavering between wanting to continue on this course, driven to drive ratings after the network gives them a plum timeslot. Skyler Gisondo as aspiring actor Dan Plumb, a decoy hired to lure these men along, is superb as well, coming undone as the stakes are upped and more dangerous than ever.

Oppenheim not only delivers one of the greatest cinematic thrill rides we’ll go on this year, he and Singh truly are saying something about the costs of entertainment and ethical boundaries in the pursuit of it.

Elevation Pictures release PRIMEIME October 2, 2026.