After weeks of providing A24‘s Primetime with free press, Chris Hansen has finally seen the Lance Oppenheim-helmed thriller.
On Friday, the former To Catch a Predator host teased his reaction after catching a screening of the movie, which is now in theaters, based on Esquire‘s depiction of Hansen in the 2007 article “Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die” with Robert Pattinson portraying him.
“It was so bizarre and so in-and-out of reality,” said Hansen in a video shared on X. “Obviously, I’m not objective because the character is me, but it was so detached from reality or anything I’ve experienced then or now doing the investigations. I’m not sure what the point of it was.”
At the Venice Film Festival premiere, Pattinson recently said that he hopes Hansen sees the film as “some kind of compliment” from those he’s inspired.
Meanwhile, Hansen’s official review of the film comes amid a rollercoaster of reactions he’s had to the project, including contemplating legal action and purchasing ad space before upcoming screenings of the movie to promote his true-crime streaming network TruBlu, where he continues his sting investigations.
After Hansen recently confirmed he’s “going to see” the movie, following an invite from the production team to a private screening, he appeared last month on Fox News, claiming he was asked to sign “a very restrictive agreement” to attend the advanced screening.
The form was an NDA that all preview audiences are asked to sign a week in advance to view in an unreleased film, in order to prevent spoilers and protect IP. Hansen reportedly refused to sign, and therefore, wasn’t allowed to screen the film.
Now in theaters, Primetime follows Chris Hansen (Pattinson) as he attempts to make television history with NBC’s To Catch a Predator (2004-’07), a hidden camera show that set up stings for adult men seeking sex from minors online.
