Predators

Airing for three ratings-busting seasons, 2004-2007, NBC’s To Catch a Predator was a conspicuous exercise in interventionist entertainment. Working from tips gleaned by a group called Perverted Justice, presenter Chris Hansen and his team set up elaborate sting operations to lure suspected pedophiles into the open, catching them on hidden cameras as they tried to seduce underage victims. Jimmy Kimmel memorably described it as “Punk’d for pedophiles.”

Maybe not too surprisingly, the show ran into trouble — though it inspired many imitators, especially on YouTube, where DIY vigilantes continue to multiply, and Chris Hansen himself is still proudly playing cop. Filmmaker David Osit (Mayor) asks what’s wrong with this picture and finds plenty of reasons to give pause.

Measured, nuanced and finally gut-punching… Osit’s brilliant, subtly needling film leaves us unnerved and alert, but not certain of our convictions — an outcome, perhaps, that more true-crime programming should pursue.

Guy Lodge, Variety

Predators is a clinic in documentary ethics, but Osit’s intellect doesn’t mute his pain, sensitivity and outrage. It’s a film for the heart and the head.

Scott Tobias, The Reveal

Probing, troubling…

Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times