Coming our way from MTV is the documentary Predators, which is said to “examine America’s fascination with watching child sex predators exposed on national television and the cultural impact of shows like NBC’s To Catch a Predator.” The documentary is set to receive a theatrical release on September 19th, and with that date exactly one month away, a trailer has dropped online. You can watch it in the embed above.
Predators was created by filmmaker David Osit and features interviews with journalists, actors, law enforcers, academics, and To Catch a Predator’s longtime host Chris Hansen. Here’s the synopsis: A cultural sensation from its inception in the early 2000s, Dateline NBC’s candid-camera investigative series To Catch a Predator ensnared sex offenders and lured them to a film set, where they would be interviewed and arrested while cameras rolled. The show was a hit and transformed its host Chris Hansen into a moral crusader and TV star, while spawning a worldwide industry of imitators and vigilantes. But why did we watch so voraciously — and why do we continue to devour its web-based, clickbait-driven offshoots? Looking back on the show and the countless franchises it spawned, filmmaker David Osit turns his camera on journalists, actors, law enforcers, academics, and ultimately himself, to trace America’s obsession with watching people at their lowest. Predators is a chilling, edge of your seat film that delves into the murk of human nature to observe hunter, predator, subject and spectator alike, all ensnared in a complicated web of entertainment as far as the eye can see.
Osit told PEOPLE, “I certainly found the show fascinating. I remembered watching as a young adult and feeling a complex stew of discomfort and schadenfreude as child predators were lured into a house, interviewed and ultimately arrested with cameras rolling for our national entertainment. But even knowing the sordid details of what happened in Texas towards the end of the show’s run — a man who ultimately committed suicide rather than be filmed by Dateline NBC cameras during one of their child predator stings — I didn’t imagine a story about this show could transcend what always bothered me most about the true crime genre.“
Does the Predators documentary sound interesting to you? Take a look at the trailer, then let us know by leaving a comment below.
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