the take
one of us wants to see Primetime, and apparently it's "just" because of a celebrity crush. in our defense, it's not our fault he keeps showing up in incredible movies, and we're still processing the fact that he's playing Chris Hansen. watch for the part where we haven't even reached the "is he a threat" phase yet. for the record, the premise alone would get us in a seat: an A24 movie about the making of To Catch a Predator is a lot to process on its own. we'll report back after we see it, crush status included.
this is the hosts' commentary and speculation for entertainment, not a statement of fact about anyone in it.
the backstory
Primetime is an A24 movie directed by Lance Oppenheim, his first narrative feature, and written by Ajon Singh. Robert Pattinson stars as Chris Hansen and also produces. Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo and Phoebe Bridgers co-star. The film premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival on September 5, 2026, and opened in US theaters on September 25, 2026.
It's set in 2006 and follows Hansen as he makes To Catch a Predator. That was the Dateline NBC hidden-camera series, airing from 2004 to 2007, where Hansen confronted men who showed up at a sting house expecting to meet a minor. The decoys were adults posing as kids in online chats. The film is based on Luke Dittrich's Esquire article "Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die."
In the clip, one of us wants to see Primetime and gets accused of just having a celebrity crush on its star. The clip never says his name, but the person playing Chris Hansen is Robert Pattinson.
where it's from
transcript
auto-transcribed from the clip audio. speakers aren't labeled and there may be small errors.
- 0:00But the thing about our pants is I'm always like,
- 0:02oh, let's go see that movie.
- 0:04So we want to go see Primetime.
- 0:05You're probably like, oh, you just want to go
- 0:07because you basically have a celebrity crush on him.
- 0:09But I'm like, it's actually not my fault
- 0:11that he's like in all of these incredible movies.
- 0:13I didn't even get there yet.
- 0:14I'm still processing the fact that he's like playing
- 0:18Chris Hansen.
- 0:20I'm not like, I haven't gotten to like,
- 0:22is he a threat phase yet?
- 0:25You're like not like trying to like catch the predator.
- 0:28The A-list actor, she tells you not to worry about it.
faq
- Who plays Chris Hansen in Primetime?
- Robert Pattinson plays Chris Hansen in A24's Primetime, and he's also one of the film's producers.
- When did Primetime come out?
- Primetime premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 5, 2026, and opened in US theaters on September 25, 2026.
- What is Primetime about?
- It follows Chris Hansen in 2006 as he makes To Catch a Predator, the Dateline NBC hidden-camera sting series. It's based on Luke Dittrich's Esquire article "Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die."
- Who directed Primetime?
- Lance Oppenheim directed it, his first narrative feature, from a script by Ajon Singh.
