Trial By Media, Pt. 2 — Primetime

Primetime is a far-from-straightforward take on a true story, using the mid-aughts TV phenomenon To Catch a Predator and especially its host, Chris Hansen, for a darkly comic exploration of the morally murky place where ambition and justice overlap. It’s a tonal high wire act that gets a lot of mileage out of Lance Oppenheim’s expressively stylized direction and strong performances from Robert Pattinson, Merritt Wever, and Skyler Gisondo, but whether that all adds up to a satisfying film is up for debate this week. Then we bring 1957’s Sweet Smell of Success back in for Connections to discuss how it and Primetime both navigate protagonists who punch down from their moral high ground, and the bygone media environments that enable them, all while maintaining a sense of humor. Then, for anyone looking for a fuller picture of To Catch a Predator’s rise and fall, we offer a Your Next Picture Show for David Osit’s 2025 documentary Predators.

Please share your thoughts about Sweet Smell of Success, Primetime, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next pairing: Aaron Sorkin's The Social Reckoning and David Fincher's The Social Network.

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