Primetime (2026)★ 7.3/10

I was never really interested in reality shows. I’m still not, but I did see PRIMETIME, the new dramatic biopic from first-time director Lance Oppenheim. This is about NBC anchor and host of the series To Catch a Predator, Chris Hanson, played by Robert Pattinson. What really worked for me was the way it explores our relationship with entertainment and other people’s suffering. We’re constantly surrounded by stories about terrible things happening to real people, whether through television, social media, documentaries, or the news. We watch because we’re curious or because we simply can’t look away. I also liked that the movie doesn’t just blame the people behind the camera. There has to be an audience for this kind of entertainment to exist, which makes us part of the equation too. There’s something uncomfortable about watching these characters cross increasingly disturbing lines while realizing that we’re being entertained by it at the same time. The atmosphere really worked for me as well. Even during the quieter moments, there’s a feeling that something isn’t right. Watching people slowly justify choices that would have seemed unthinkable at the beginning made the darker moments much more effective. It isn’t perfect. The pacing dragged in a few places, and some of the ideas deserved more exploration. There were moments where the movie introduced something really interesting and moved on before digging into it as much as I wanted. Pattinson, Merritt Wever, and Skylar Gisondo are all amazing. Overall, PRIMETIME left me thinking about how easily someone’s worst moment can become someone else’s entertainment. It’s easy to criticize the people exploiting those stories while forgetting that somebody still has to be watching. I was watching too. You know how this looks, right?