By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.625 cats
Director: David Osit
Year: 2025
Running time: 96
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34963732/reference/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_predators
Aaron says “PREDATORS is an upsetting and provocative documentary that plays like a morally urgent thriller. Filmmaker David Osit examines the fallout of ‘To Catch a Predator, the NBC show that used decoy actors playing minors to lure would-be sex offenders into an on-camera ambush.
“Osit checks in on a range of perspectives from people who are still dealing with trauma from the show or its imitators: the decoy actors, the now adult victims of pedophilia looking back, the police who arrested the perpetrators, and the mother of one of the arrested men. He also scores an interview with ‘To Catch a Predator’ host Chris Hansen in a climactic reckoning. Meanwhile, ethnographer Mark de Rond quietly observes and comments on footage, putting things in context for us.
“PREDATORS shows a moving compassion toward the men whose lives were ruined for a national gotcha moment, and rightfully targets the show for humiliating these sick people as a cruel punchline. These represent different kinds of victims, ones we aren’t prepared to see as redeemable.”
In a sad postscript, a sex offender who was arrested on a ‘To Catch a Predator’ episode recently re-offended. Does the show deserve credit for putting a very bad guy away, or was there some failure of rehabilitation that a public humiliation made harder? The film doesn’t need to answer that question, but it sits there festering.
“As Osit’s personal connection to the subject comes into focus, the film sacrifices some of that nonjudgmental compassion to put Chris Hansen in the crosshairs. He’s an easy villain, and the film’s anger bubbles over into our own outrage. Although the interview with Hansen makes for extraordinary viewing, PREDATORS ends with a cheap trick that feels somewhat unfair. Still, Osit isn’t out to make friends, and he can be forgiven the overreach in the name of his mission, to make a film that will rattle you to the core. 4.5 Cats“
Julie says:”Wow, maybe the best ending I’ve ever seen in a doc! From the start of this movie about the rise and the fall of the tv show ‘To Catch A Predator’, I felt uncomfortable watching these men humiliated and patronized by the host, then often tackled and arrested by the police. It seemed really wrong. It was a fascinating story about the inner workings of the show, why it was pulled off the air and what happened afterwards. The ending made it all worthwhile. 4.75 cats”