Robert Pattinson is continuing his year of impressive performances with the upcoming crime thriller Primetime. The film stars the actor as a fictionalized version of presenter Chris Hansen, the host of the reality television series To Catch a Predator.
The series aired on Dateline NBC and saw Hansen and a TV crew approach men who believed they had been speaking to minors online. The film is loosely based on the production of the show as well as a long-form feature written on it by Esquire, called 'Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die,' which told the story of one of the subjects of the show who committed suicide.
It's a heavy subject matter dealing with a controversial series, but the early reviews have suggested director Lance Oppenheim pulls it off well, landing 93% on Rotten Tomatoes so far. In particular, praise has been strong for Pattinson, who is generating Oscar buzz for his performance as Hansen.
"This has been Pattinson's year, with performances to relish in The Drama and The Odyssey (and Dune: Part Three still to come)," reads the BBC review. "But no film has suited his mischievously oddball style more than Primetime, a darkly surreal media satire which premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday. The first narrative feature from Lance Oppenheim, previously a documentary director, Primetime is sure to be an Oscar contender – although it may be a controversial one."
Meanwhile, The Telegraph gave it five stars, which calls it "the best and nastiest film of its type since 2014’s Nightcrawler: it leaves its audience simultaneously appalled and thrilled, and thereby grubbily complicit."
"I've admired Pattinson for years, but nothing quite prepared me for his turn as Hansen," Vulture's Bilge Ebiri adds. "It’s a stunning demonstration of the actor’s range, and watching the film you can't imagine any other performer of his generation pulling it off."
Others on social media have been more overt with their predictions for Pattinson come awards season. "Robert Pattinson is so good in #Primetime," wrote one film fan. "An electric, thought-provoking ride about a pedo-hunter that flew too close to the network sun. Enhanced by a vibrant visual identity and a killer supporting cast, this could be the package that carries him to his first Oscar nomination."
Not all reviews have been positive, though, with The Guardian giving it just two stars, calling it a "disappointment". Peter Bradshaw writes: "Lance Oppenheim’s drama about controversial US reality show To Catch a Predator is unsure what it wants to say about media or morality."
Primetime is out in theaters on September 25, 2026. Next up for Pattinson is Dune 3 and he's busy filming The Batman 2.
