Baabybelles Box Office: Primetime
Baabybelles Box Office Star Rating
★★★½☆☆
After months of global anticipation, ‘Primetime’, the latest A24 blockbuster, arrived three days ahead of its scheduled UK release and graced cinemas nationwide with sold-out screenings, receiving mass critical acclaim. Primetime follows the true story of T.V. personality Chris Hansen (portrayed by Robert Pattinson) and his incredibly successful 90s hit show, ‘To Catch a Predator’. If you’re reading this, you’re probably familiar with the show’s premise, but for those unaware, To Catch a Predator had a simple yet brutal and controversially entertaining premise: actors pose as ‘decoy’ children, lure online predators to a staged home and ultimately have them arrested.
The show attracted an overwhelming audience and became an almost instant hit, quickly finding itself in Dateline's prime-time slot. The 90s staple has seemingly made a resurgence in popularity in recent years thanks to social media and meme culture, with Hansen continuing to be the face of much of the show’s online humour, largely as a result of his comedically blunt demeanour throughout the show. While Hansen himself has publicly expressed his objections to the film, noting that he had never been approached for the use of his likeness, this doesn’t appear to have deterred audiences worldwide.
Predictably, Pattinson’s performance was nothing short of outstanding, portraying Hansen almost caricature-like in his behaviour, a likely result of Hansen’s on-screen persona. Pattinson excels at both the (surprisingly) comedic elements of the film just as much as the intensely unnerving, with certain scenes leaving me physically squirming in my seat. Tensions run high throughout the course of the film, accompanied by some wildly impressive cinematography choices, making those unexpected moments of dark satire even more welcome.
While I must be truthful, the weight of the script did feel lacking to me in parts, with director Lance Oppenheim seemingly choosing style over substance; to the point where stylisation inadvertently overpowers the narrative, creating a sense of detachment from the story itself, while the modest (109-minute) run-time felt substantially longer than it actually was, and there’s a subplot or two in there that felt somewhat unnecessary, or perhaps more accurately, underdeveloped. Though, with all that being said, I didn’t know what to expect going into this.
One thing no one can argue with, however, and why I’ve struggled so much deciding between a 3½ or 4-star rating, is how incredibly mesmerising this is to watch; cinematically, this is just one hell of a beautiful film. Stylised in true 90s fashion, shot with a 4:3 aspect ratio and a grainy, unpolished home-video patina, the lighting and cinematography are the true standouts of this film, combining modern techniques with old-school visuals to create and flawlessly execute a true mid-90s broadcasting aesthetic.
I’ll be honest, I think I’m due a rewatch of this one to form a more definitive opinion, but it’s safe to say that come award season, Pattinson and his co-star, Skyler Gisondo, are shoo-ins for best actor and best supporting actor nominations, respectively. While Primetime itself is practically guaranteed to drown in nominations, whether those translate into wins or not, I’m very interested to find out.
Primetime is showing now in all major cinemas.
Article By Bella Proudfoot
