PRIMETIME
Lance Oppenheim (director/writer; screenwriter: based on the article “Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die” by Luke Dittrich, Ajon Singh; cinematographer: David Bolen; editor: Daniel Garber; music: Ari Balouzian; cast: Robert Pattinson (Chris Hansen), Merritt Wever (Andie Bender), Skyler Gisondo (Dan Plumb), Phoebe Bridgers (Del), Matthew Maher (Xavier Von Erck), Bokeem Woodbine (Cortland Gunn), Anna Faris (Mary Hansen), Jonathan Lipnicki (Crazyfrog73), Tony Revolori (MarriedAndLookingForFun31313), Alex Winter (Bill Conradt), Jeff Zucker (himself); Runtime: 110; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Fred Berger, William Iannaccone, Robert Pattinson, Brighton McCloskey, Lars Knudsen, Ari Aster; A24; 2026)
“Shallow journalism drama.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Lance Oppenheim (“Some Kind of Heaven”) directs this shallow journalism drama exposing the media’s shaky ethics. It’s written by Ajon Singh, and is based on the 2009 Esquire Magazine article “Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die” by Luke Dittrich.
It goes behind the scenes of the 2004 show “To Catch a Predator,” a “Dateline NBC” spinoff, that used actors and hidden cameras to carry out a sting operations against suspected pedophiles.
The creepy, self-serving and self-absorbed Chris Hansen (Robert Pattinson) is an unscrupulous journalist tied to the expose program’s excesses and questionable journalism.
Featured are the show’s producer Andie Bender (Merritt Wever) yearning for a career breakthrough from the show, the network executive Jeff Zucker (playing himself), a Texas police chief, Cortland Gunn (Bokeem Woodbine), who scores political points by bringing the show to his hometown, and some of the show’s fanatical followers.
The new young actor Dan Plumb (Skyler Gisondo) convinces himself that by doing the controversial show he will save the lives of future children.
Filled with contrivances, the film reveals how sleazy the tasteless show was as it makes us feel uncomfortable rather than satisfying us with the unethical way it acted.
It played at the Venice Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 9/28/2026 GRADE: C+
dennisschwartzreviews.com