A24's Primetime & The Performance of Justice

Benji and Luke discuss Lance Oppenheim’s Primetime, the filmmaker’s first narrative feature film, in which his muse, Chris Hansen, has been gifted with renewed relevance despite his grievance tour. Spoiler: Benji liked Primetime so much he saw it three times. The conversation begins with an examination of David Osit’s documentary Predators (2025) and Luke Dittrich’s Esquire article “Tonight on Dateline, This Man Will Die”, two absolutely essential pieces of context for understanding Hansen and the legacy of To Catch A Predator. They then break down Oppenheim’s fever-dream portrait of Hansen's ascending celebrity built on a TV show template of performative justice. Finally, they discuss the film’s connections to post-9/11 America, Robert Pattinson’s brilliant and unsettling performance, and their final thoughts about Oppenheim's first narrative fiction feature. **Warnings:** Spoilers throughout after 12 minutes. Also, this episode contains direct discussion of suicide. -- **CHAPTERS:** 00:00 Primetime (2026), Predators (2025), and our first reactions 04:31 Lance Oppenheim, the filmmakers, and the cast 09:15 Why David Osit's Predators changed our reading of Hansen 22:19 Robert Pattinson channeling Lestat as celebrity-addled Hansen 38:03 The Society of Chris Hansen's Spectacle 54:32 To Catch A Predator on the road in Texas 1:03:38 Dan Plum becomes Hansen & the Murphy, TX sting collapses into tragedy 1:26:30 Final thoughts, Primetime's technical formats, and fever-dream favorites -- Also available on all podcast platforms 🎧 ⁠⁠https://www.allthosemomentspod.com/subscribe⁠⁠ Follow the podcast on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/allthosemomentspod/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠