Reviews For The Easily Distracted: Predators

Title: Predators
Describe This Movie Using One Rose Kennedy Quote:
“The time will come when it will disgust you to look in the mirror.”
Brief Plot Synopsis: “Please have a seat.”
Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: 3 Police albums out of 5.

Tagline: N/A
Better Tagline: “Probably not the Predators movie you’re thinking of.”
Not So Brief Plot Synopsis: For anyone under the age of — say — 30, there used to be a show on a major network where they would lure would-be sexual predators to meet their victims, before they were confronted with their text/phone transcripts by host Chris Hansen, who then let the police grab them. Take that, Love Island.

“Critical” Analysis: If you’re at all familiar with To Catch A Predator, which ran from 2004 to 2007 on Dateline NBC, you know the formula: adult piece of shit shows up at what he believes is the home of an underage girl (or boy) with the expectation of sex, only to be confronted by the stern visage of host Chris Hansen.

In early episodes, the only other people present were Hansen, the “decoy,” and the crew. However, the show really hit its stride when NBC started looping in local law enforcement, leading to tantalizing footage of befuddled perps getting taken down by a bunch of cops. To Catch A Predator was a huge hit for the network, and why not? Culling these pervs from the general populace was something almost everyone could agree was a Good Thing, regardless of political affiliation.

Filmmaker David Osit has some thoughts about that. First, he brings in Cambridge ethnographer Mark de Rond, who was “intrigued” — if that’s the word — by what could prompt some men to prey on kids, and what made us Americans so eager to watch. And through the course of his documentary, Osit looks at some lesser known background and what the show’s legacy is.

But he starts simply enough, interviewing the “decoys:” adults (barely) who were young enough to pass for pubescent teens. They describe how they got their first acting gig with TCAP (in a moment of weird synergy, one girl was encouraged to sign up by her own dad), and then reflect on some of the perps, in some cases — and like de Rond — expressing sympathy for the perps.

That’s not the case with the law enforcement personnel Osit interviews (a Georgia DA, for example), or the audiences on shows like Jimmy Kimmel (timely!), The Daily Show, and Oprah. And to be fair, it’s easy to understand why men looking to rape (let’s call it what it is) children are deserving of our disgust.

But shit hit the fan during an episode in Terrell, TX, when Rockwall County ADA Bill Conradt, recorded talking with one of the decoys but not actually traveling to the sting house, killed himself after SWAT — acting on a defective search warrant — entered his home. Again, there’s little remorse to be had, with one of the officers on the scene commenting, “That’ll make good TV.”

Wider reactions to the suicide ranged from “ho-hum” to exaggerated handwringing from NBC competitors like 20/20. And you just know John Stossel was practically tearing his mustache out wishing he’d thought of the idea first. Conradt’s sister sued Dateline and the DA declined to prosecute any of the cases brought by that installment on jurisdictional and evidentiary grounds.

While the first act deals with To Catch A Predator proper, the second addresses the continuing work of online vigilante groups like Perverted Justice and the copycats that followed in its wake. Enter “Skeet Hansen,” who mimics the original hosts style and mannerisms and skirts YouTube’s content restrictions by faking police involvement in his “stings.”

Finally, we catch up with Chris Hansen in the present day. Would you be surprised to learn he’s parlayed TCAP into 15 seasons (and counting) of Takedown with Chris Hansen on something called the TruBlu Factual Streaming Network? He’s still at it, in other words, and when Osit interviews him for the finale, Hansen seems largely unfazed by suggestions that his methods were/are borderline unethical. Osit, himself a victim of child sex abuse, admits to realizing he was a survivor after watching Hansen on Dateline NBC, but still has issues with how the stings were conducted.

To Catch A Predator had a relatively brief run on TV, but it — and Hansen — remain popular (Osit catches up with him at something called “CrimeCon”). Osit and de Rond ultimately spell out what’s pretty apparent to anyone who’s watched an episode: “understanding isn’t a goal of the show.” The instant gratification of watching these guys get humiliated, then taken down by the cops — never mind the vast majority of the show’s subjects were never tried, forget about convicted — is why we watched. The hook, as always, was the point. And if TCAP has any legacy beyond blurring the lines between journalism and exploitation, it’s in the glut of true crime podcasts and documentaries trying to manufacture those sweet “gotcha” moments themselves.

Predators is in theaters today.

This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.

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