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Predators
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Predators
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- Arts and culture
- Documentary
- 2025
- David Osit
- 96 mins
- 18
Summary
Documentary filmmaker David Osit revisits one of the cultural phenomena of the early 2000s, Dateline's investigative TV series To Catch A Predator, which lured sex offenders to a film set and arrested them on camera. Host Chris Hansen was vaunted as a crusader for justice and morality and the candid camera format spawned various imitators hoping to mimic the ratings-grabbing success of the original. This feature-length film asks uncomfortable questions about why America has an obsession with watching people at their lowest. Director Osit turns the camera on himself, academics, law enforcement, journalists and actors to gain a clearer understanding of human behaviour and the TV show's complicated legacy
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IMDB
Review
A star rating of 4 out of 5.
Calum Baker
Film-maker David Osit crafts a measured examination of the controversial US reality TV show To Catch a Predator, which aired as a popular occasional strand in magazine series Dateline NBC between 2004 and 2007. Hosted by reporter Chris Hansen, the show depicted various sting operations targeting adults who had engaged in sexually explicit conversations online with volunteers posing as minors. Osit initially chronicles To Catch a Predator, interviews some of the actors involved in the stings, and outlines the ethical issues inherent to this often sordid, merciless programming. The second act of his film fast-forwards to the 2020s, where wannabe Hansens conduct their own operations to post online. Finally, Osit - who reveals that he is a survivor of child sexual abuse -speaks to Hansen directly and questions him over the motives behind, and effects of, the presenter's continued work in this field. This is a thoughtful, gnawing film that handles its tricky subject matter with sensitivity and lucid criticism. While the film is undoubtedly intriguing as a dive into matters of psychology, criminal intent and media ethics, Osit draws even more unsettling conclusions about the strange state of contemporary society in general. The film's midsection, following cut-price YouTube vigilante "Skeet Hansen", grimly encapsulates the sense that the news-entertainment model has long since smashed through the looking-glass. An exemplary study in our own grotesquely mutated values.
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6.6/10
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Credits
Cast
rolenamePredatorBryceSelfChris HansenSelfDavid OsitSelfShawn Rech
Crew
rolenameDirectorDavid OsitProducerJ. GonçalvesProducerDavid OsitProducerKellen QuinnComposerTim HeckerDirector of photographyDavid OsitEditorDavid OsitEditorNicolás Nørgaard Staffolani
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Details
Theatrical distributor
Dogwoof
Released on
2025-11-14
Languages
English
Guidance
Swearing, sexual references, disturbing material
Formats
Colour
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