30/10/26

Cineworld, Edinburgh

If there’s a film actor out there having a more varied career than R-Patz, please feel free to point them out to me. Seemingly prepared to give just about anything a go, Pattison also appears to have developed a knack for making whatever role he performs utterly compelling – and Primetime is just the latest in a long line of successes. Here he plays Chris Hansen, the real-life presenter of a series of reality TV shows, and we join him in 2006, when his latest series, To Catch a Predator, is starting to develop a huge following.

The premise of the show is simple but problematic. Sexual predators are tracked down in online chat rooms by Xavier (Matthew Maher), who pretends to be a wayward teenager and eventually lures them to a location where they can meet up face-to-face. Baby-faced actors are hired to greet the targets when they arrive. The pedophiles walk in carrying booze and condoms and whatever else they’ve been encouraged to lay their hands on, unaware they are being filmed live.

Enter Hansen, clipboard in hand, to deliver a stern rebuke. When the suspects attempt to leave, cops are waiting to arrest them.

Dan Plum (Skylar Gisondo) is a young actor dreaming of success in Hollywood, so when he’s invited to try out for the series he sees it as a golden opportunity to earn the all-important union card that will grant him entry to the world of show business. Hansen recognises that ‘Decoy Dan’ will be a valuable asset to the show and goes out of his way to keep him on board, persuading him that TCAP is performing an important role, ridding the world of an ancient evil. Is Hansen grooming his new star?

Director Lance Oppenheim is best known for his documentaries – his upcoming You Can See Everything with Nathan Fielder is currently America’s hot ticket event – and in this feature debut, he works with cinematographer David Bolen to create a torrid, grimy world where ratings success means everything. Pattinson’s Hansen is a pompous narcissist, obsessed with outperforming Lost (the top rated TV show of its day), and he continually pushes his producer Andie (Merrit Weaver) to seek out ever-more lurid storylines to ensure that TCAP stays in pole position. Meanwhile, poor Dan goes along with it all but soon starts to realise that those dreams of making it as a ‘real’ actor are moving ever further beyond his reach.

As Hansen’s methods grow ever more ruthless, it starts to become clear there’s more than one type of villain – and a powerful climax in a gun-obsessed Texan town brings everything to its inevitable messy conclusion.

While it’s possibly too down-and-dirty to achieve big numbers at the box office, Primetime is a searing examination of the sickness at the heart of reality TV and asks some very pertinent questions about the people who create it. Unsurprisingly, the real Chris Hansen has expressed his displeasure with the film but it keeps me gripped from start to finish.

4.2 stars

Philip Caveney