What the Absolute Hell, Pattinson

I didn’t watch a lot of NBC’s To Catch a Predator, in which journalist Chris Hanson basically sets up sting operations to capture child sex predators using adults impersonating minors. But from what I had seen, I never got the impression that Chris Hanson was, I dunno, unhinged. He seemed like a fairly sober journalist doing work that felt both meaningful and tabloid-esque.

Hanson doesn’t have a particularly checkered past, either, though it looks like in 2019-20 he had some financial issues, leading to an eviction and an arrest for bouncing a check (charges were later dismissed). But I never got the impression that the guy was full tilt.

But that’s the direction that A24’s Primetime takes, casting Robert Pattinson as an Oliver Stone version of Chris Hanson, so hellbent on taking down predators and stoking ratings that he doesn’t concern himself with the collateral damage. At least that’s the gist I get from the trailer, which is really intense.

I’m intrigued. And a little weirded out.