Review: ‘Primetime’ will seep into your skin

Our first introduction to Primetime’s depiction of TV personality Chris Hansen (Robert Pattinson) is him shirtless in a dark dressing room, trying to figure out the best way to enunciate “lubricant” as he prepares to entrap a would-be child predator (Tony Revolori, The Grand Budapest Hotel) for his hit show, To Catch A Predator. It’s clear from the get-go that this Chris Hansen is just as disturbed, perhaps even more so, than the man he’s about to confront. 

Last year’s Predators documentary took an unvarnished look at the early-2000s hybrid news-reality entertainment show To Catch A Predator as a modern continuation of medieval justice and public-square executions. While Primetime viewers may reach similar conclusions on their own, the film focuses more on immersing us in the show’s creation and the people behind it. It’s so immersive that I felt the desperate need for a shower afterward to wash the stench of it off me. 

The first narrative feature from documentary filmmaker Lance Oppenheim (Some Kind of Heaven, Ren Faire) throws us into the show after it’s been on the air for two years and makes the jump to primetime, where it’s going to compete with Lost (former NBC exec Jeff Zucker, who plays himself, hilariously frets that they won’t be able to compete with the Lost polar bears). For Hansen, this is an opportunity for more glory and to stick it to his archrival, at least in his mind, Stone Phillips (who, weirdly enough, lives in the same retirement community as my parents). But the pressure to compete for the new prestige slot makes Hansen lose his grip as he chases a bigger score for ratings. 

Our entry point is Dan Plumb (Skyler Gisondo, Superman), an aspiring actor trying to get his SAG card who takes the role of a decoy on the show, not fully understanding he’s supposed to lure in the predators. After a horrifying first experience, Hansen basically grooms him into the world of the show, and we see the psychological toll and mental manipulation required for Dan to keep doing this day after day. For Hansen, he’s already deeply lost in the myth he’s made. 

Primetime has elements of a traditional thriller, corporate conspiracy movie, or even the spiraling addict/gambler movie (think the end of Goodfellas), but won’t satisfy any traditional genre itch. Oppenheim approached the material like a documentary, letting the actors perform the roles as they fit, improvising shots, and focusing on depiction. 

Dozens of different cameras were used, including the same ones originally used on the show, spliced together to replicate the feel of early 2000s digital work, albeit with a queasy unreality. The real strength, though, is in the editing. Working with his regular editor, Daniel Garber (How to Blow Up a Pipeline), Primetime can feel like a sensory assault, cutting between rapid-fire shots and archival TV footage, along with a subtle, uncomfortable hallucinatory feel. The approach can also mean that certain plot threads, like Hansen worrying about a National Enquirer tell-all story or producer Andie Bender (Merritt Weaver, The Gilded Age) being poached for What Would You Do?, feel directionless even as they illustrate these characters. 

The performances are the real highlight here, with everyone involved at the top of their game (both Gisondo and Weaver would be well-deserved to get Best Supporting Award nominations). Of course, the real star here is Pattinson with a slam dunk on a year already full of impressive performances. No other actor of his generation, especially one who got his start as a teen movie heartthrob, can so successfully embody creepy weirdos by altering everything from his speech to mannerisms so seamlessly that it hardly feels like a performance. This may be his most psychologically complex role to date, as he embodies a man who can easily manipulate others while also manipulating himself. 

Be warned that Primetime isn’t going to offer immediate gratification, apart from witnessing one of the best performances of the year. More likely, you’ll be watching it thinking, “What even is this?” But it’s a film that will seep into your skin and lurk there as you try to unpack it over the next few days.