Primetime

In 2006, TV presenter Chris Hansen hoped to make a name for himself with a new, high-profile and controversial television programme for one of the major American television networks: To Catch a Predator. Adult men are lured to a house, believing they are going there for a steamy date with a minor. But inside that house, Hansen and his crew are waiting for the man to confront him about his deviant behaviour, after which he is arrested. It becomes a success, but how do you keep it going? That question becomes an ever-growing obsession for Hansen, especially when a tabloid journalist discovers his extramarital affair.

The programme To Catch a Predator, presented by Chris Hansen, was broadcast by NBC between 2004 and 2007, but this first feature film by documentary-maker Lance Oppenheim is not an accurate reconstruction of the facts, as Oppenheim emphasises. Primetime is primarily a psychological thriller, starring Robert Pattinson.