Directed By Lance Oppenheim

Starring – Robert Pattinson, Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo

The Plot – Follows an ambitious TV journalist named Chris Hansen (Pattinson), who in 2006 builds a massive ratings phenomenon by running elaborate online sting operations to catch suspected child predators.

Rated R for disturbing sexual material, graphic nudity, some violent content, and adult language.

Primetime | Official Trailer HD | A24

POSITIVES

Because the eye-opening realities of its predatorial purges sent stinging shockwaves throughout America that can still be felt today, it was only a matter of time before television’s most controversial program received the big screen treatment, and while the burden of responsibility falls on the stoic shoulders of Oppenheim, for what is his directorial debut into narrative storytelling, he openly embraces it with a grittily grimy psychological thriller that has plenty to say about the hypocrisies of those we condemn as predators. This is not to say that Oppenheim justifies the compulsive perversions of those who seek to exploit the most vulnerably innocent of demographics, as his daringly daunting direction does more than enough to render these lurkers as depraved vultures who prey relentlessly on youths, but rather that everything from the sensationalized form of TV media to the acting profession itself resembles the same kind of manipulative power dynamics that are at play with grooming, and considering the film is a bit of a biopic on both the How to Catch a Predator program and Chris Hansen alike, it uncovers plenty about the popular host that certainly makes it easy to understand why the real-life Hansen refused to sign off on the property. While it’s easy enough to coherently interpret Hansen’s objectives in fame, fortune, and notoriety, along the way of this fascinatingly complex exploration, we come to comprehend a morally shallow extorter and simultaneous womanizer who will stop at nothing to produce compelling television, regardless of who it hurts along the way, offering ample food for thought on the vicariousness of audience indulgence into ruined lives and manufactured meet-ups, that opts for humility above rehabilitation. The kind of world that Oppenheim delves fearlessly into is deliberately meant to feel uncomfortably bitter and grim for the interpretive audience, where everything from the invasiveness of the blanketed sound design for disgustingly delivered dialogue, to the unappealing grit of its presentational aspects, flourishes a relentlessly icky immersive experience that made me feel like a shower was necessary shortly after I saw it, in order to shake everything about this environment that feels so thickly inescapable. The show-stealer amongst this decorated production is definitely David Bolen’s claustrophobically clamorous cinematography, where while inside a tightly condensed 4:3 aspect ration that feels like the proverbial walls closing in on Hansen’s delicate psyche, we’re treated to endless close-ups of the host’s facial registry while talking directly to the audience, in order to give us that nauseating feeling of being the object of his aggressions, and when combined with the saturated color grading that appraises an intentional air of outdatedness to the integrity of the imagery, makes the film feels like it emanates from a contorted place far from both morality and reality, where every shot is executed with a darker hue to the contrast of characters who hide comfortably in shadows that obscure the teeth of the real predator. On top of this, the production designs do a miraculously meticulous job of rendering familiarity to the distinguished direction of its depicted television show, where the recreated surveillance style camera work and monotonous set designs convey such impeccably unblemished detail that they make us feel like we traveled back in time with their enacted sensibilities, with so much of Oppenheim’s dizzying direction and the humility of the show’s vengeful tendencies accommodating so naturally to the kind of pallet cleansing comedy that breeds levity in between the devastation. While so much about the presentation and direction correspond seamlessly towards one distinctly uncompromised vision, the script from Ajon Singh might certainly be far from perfect, but when it thrives during the first two acts it utilizes a dual character arc between Chris and Dan (Played by Skylar Gisondo) that depicts two polar opposites at contrastingly differing stages of their respective careers, where one man’s delve into the world of acting corresponds seamlessly alongside a cutthroat executive who embellishes a bit excessively in the lavish lifestyle to feel authentic to his meaningful cause. This corresponding evolution between characters not only excels a deviated consistency to the storytelling that allows the first 70 minutes of the movie to transpire with enough urgency to effectively echo the overnight success of the show that was pushed feverishly into primetime limelight, but also cleverly lays the groundwork for eventual inevitabilities that lead to one gut-punch of a confrontational climax, where those who are unfamiliar with the show’s abrupt halting are in for a jaw-dropping final capture where ethics and morality are confined by a mob mentality that articulates the most ruthlessly relentless sides of political jargon-driven society. If this wasn’t enough, the performances are of course quite remarkable to the collective ensemble, but none as substantially stimulating as Robert Pattinson and Skylar Gisondo, who each excel endlessly at bringing their characters to life with dimensional authenticity that respond so instinctually to the adversity that each of them experience throughout the film. Pattinson’s already impressive year is made epic with an embodying kind of turn that not only matches Hansen’s facial mannerisms and vocal inflections to a scarily resonating tee, but also enacts a slow descent into madness that is pushed into overdrive from the pressures of network intrusions and a deteriorating marriage urging him in his chase for the whale of a predator that has constantly eluded him. Pattinson’s initially subdued demeanor during confidently strategized confrontations of his prey eventually gives way to the kind of unhinged deliveries that contextualize the desperation and exhaustion of his inability to maintain a grip over the duration of his life, and while it isn’t exactly my favorite Pattinson performance of all-time, it is one that is certainly worthy of Oscars consideration, for the ways his portrayal feels like an embodiment more than an impression, in ways that can be hilariously imposing or destructively dangerous, depending on which day you catch him on. Holding your own against Pattinson is no small feat, but Gisondo thrives under the pressures of vulnerable naivety that enriches a delicate diamond of an honest performance, particularly in his fish-out-of-water perspective for an unforeseen job opportunity that sees him understandably overwhelmed by the realities of interacting with some of the world’s lowest scum. When he’s not thriving under those delicate circumstances, he revels in the depths of a shared dynamic with Chris that sees his character’s dream of breaking into the mainstream weaponized against him, and Gisondo conveys that moral dilemma with the kind of hefty uncertainty that lingers at his conscience, bringing more developmental depth than expected to a character who would be undervalued in inferiorly helmed biopics.

NEGATIVES

While the entirety of the movie’s first half is an exhilarating ride into the manic descent of a madman, the second half fails to muster the same kind of meaningful momentum, as a result an unfocused outlining that leaves the third act feeling a bit scatterbrained by its erratic focusing of unimportant aspects of the story that aren’t fleshed out enough to feel significant to the exploration. As to where the first hour of the movie remains undeniably at the side of Chris throughout the rise of the TV show, the third act distances itself abruptly to leave so many of his crucial arcs underwhelmed by a lack of development, and though I already knew where the ending was inevitably heading, as I was a faithful fan of the show during its original run, it’s executed and resolved so abruptly and unfulfilling that it doesn’t pay-off the investment with any kind of ground-shaking impact to our surrounding characters, particularly Chris, whose arc basically runs out of time, instead of relieves itself with departing emphasis. Aside from some climax troubles, the script also stumbles during some undeveloped arcs that are introduced initially with an air of troubled dramatic allure to them, then forgotten about entirely in expansion that doesn’t follow them up with any kind of follow-up to a generous 105-minute runtime. The script contains quite a few examples of creative amputation, however the biggest among them is definitely Hansen’s disconnected at-home life alongside his family, which apparently says everything that it’s going to say about the situation during one scene near the beginning of the film that illustrates Chris’ lack of involvement in the lives of his wife and kids, and while it can be argued that this arc doesn’t add much to the dimensionality of the show’s focus, it feels shameful to introduce it with no plans to elaborate further, in turn wasting away a possible eye-opening performance from Anna Faris that could help the accomplished comedic actress evade the typecasting that has sadly determined her career.

OVERALL
Primetime succeeds at being a tense and unsettling glimpse into the life and moral haze of Chris Hansen, offering an engrossing examination of sensationalist media that attempts to be seductive but instead comes across as seedily slimy as the very predators that it hypocritically trivializes in its over-the-top TV show. While the script speeds to an abruptly executed and unfulfilling climax, dispersing undercooked arcs along the way, it’s made must-see by provocative direction and a duo of electrically elevating performances, cementing a hypnotically salacious color-saturated spectacle that seeps under your skin

My Grade: 7.8 or B