Thinking back on it now, the very existence of a TV show like To Catch a Predator was both shocking and not surprising at all. Luridly inviting America to watch along as one after another, a string of aspiring pedophiles walked into a trap in which Chris Hansen was just behind a door, waiting to emerge and greet them with a quip, it let us see something we felt like we shouldn’t without stripping us of our presumed moral high ground. The frank dialogue and disturbing subject matter, all of it real, were unlike anything anyone could recall seeing on a major television network, but a deeper reflection of the direction culture had been heading would mean that such naked exploitation of human suffering, even if we thought they deserved it, was kind of inevitable. And as he’s portrayed in Primetime, Hansen was practically born to deliver it to us.

Predator was initially a part of the Dateline NBC TV news magazine before becoming so popular with viewers that the network decided to spin it off into its own program and slot it into primetime against ABC’s hit series Lost. Ajon Singh and Luke Dittrich’s tense script picks up right around this time, as Hansen (Robert Pattinson) and his producer Andie (Merritt Wever) are informed about the move. Excited about the news they begin plotting how to make the show even bigger and more shocking before they head to Florida to tape the next episode.

If you aren’t familiar with the format, the show would team up with crime fighting organizations to chat up men online, pretending to be teen boys or girls, and then luring them to an ordinary suburban home where a youthful looking adult decoy would welcome them in before Hansen would emerge to confront them on camera. Afterwards, they were “free to go”, though the local Police would be waiting for them outside, swooping in for the arrest—though often the methods deployed by everyone involved, including and perhaps especially the show, meant that the suspects could not be successfully prosecuted.

Dan Plum (Skyler Gisondo) is desperate to book a role that will qualify him to join the Screen Actors Guild. When he lands a very vaguely described part on Predator he is elated if still somewhat confused as to what he will be doing. He arrives in Florida at the house the show is using just as a suspect is nearing the property and is thrust into being one of the decoys with only minimal preparation. The encounter, while shocking for him, goes well enough for the producers, and Hansen in particular, so he does what he can to keep the young man on board for additional shoots despite Plum’s qualms about the experience.

Those of us who lived through the era will recall that To Catch a Predator wound up being yanked from the airwaves (and remains unavailable to watch through any legal means). I won’t spoil the reason why for those who don’t know, but even back then it felt obvious that this couldn’t end well.

Director Lance Oppenheim (whose previous work has been in documentaries) imbues Primetime with an anxious dread that keeps audiences rapt as the story works its way towards the tragedy we all sense looming. His decision to present the film in a grainy, washed-out, 4:3 image calls to mind both the experience of watching old, un-remastered TV shows today, and the vaguely dirty feeling of seeing something illicit, almost akin to a snuff film. The moments of darkly effective comedy generously scattered throughout—a good deal of which was lifted from transcripts of the show—somehow only make us feel dirtier, as a part of us senses that we shouldn’t be laughing at such disturbing material.

Pattinson is perfect in the part, practically oozing unbridled ambition and sleazy charisma while Gisondo nails the youthful naïveté that makes him so appealing to the show’s producers. As we watch Hansen deploy many common grooming tactics to keep the young Plum agreeable and witness his increasingly manic willingness to climb over anyone who might get in the way of his impending rise to fame, it dawns on us that at least as he is presented here, he isn’t much better than the men he ensnares.

Thrillingly different, disarmingly entertaining, and unafraid to tackle thorny subject matter, Primetime leaves the viewer with a lot to think about, much of it uncomfortable. Is extralegal justice ever justifiable? Should it be turned into entertainment? Who gets to decide? And are we complicit if we tune in? This astutely confrontational film will leave you worrying over when we will next be forced to decide and how much higher the stakes might be. ★★★★★

Rated R for disturbing sexual material, graphic nudity, some violent content, and language.