‘Predators’ Review: David Osit’s Quietly Trenchant Documentary Asks What Truth Came Out of a True-Crime Phenomenon
variety.comGuy Lodge Film Critic If “To Catch a Predator” taught us anything, it was about the hollow authority asserted by a man in a well-cut suit.
Between 2004 and 2007, NBC’s pedophile-baiting “Dateline” spinoff captured the imagination of the American public, announcing itself as not just reality-based entertainment but a protective public service — largely on the strength of host Chris Hansen’s suave, smooth presence as he cornered and questioned potential sex offenders with the apparent clout of a cop or lawyer, as the cameras kept rolling.
Never mind that he was a mere newsman, or that the show’s manipulations rendered most of its cases impossible to prosecute. “To Catch a Predator” delivered justice as the people preferred to see it: visibly, ruthlessly, and on television.
David Osit was among the many who were hooked; 20 years on, his measured, nuanced and finally gut-punching documentary “Predators” wonders why.
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