Robert Pattinson has said his new film Primetime is not a rebuke of TV show host Chris Hansen

With its depiction of a sensitive real-life story, Primetime has been one of the most talked-about films of the year. But despite some controversy, lead star Robert Pattinson has maintained that the thriller isn't an indictment of its subject matter.

The film sees Pattinson portray Chris Hansen, the journalist and TV presenter behind reality series To Catch a Predator. The narrative depicts the making of the show, which worked with Perverted-Justice to catch child predators in sting operations.

Despite being praised by critics, the film has generated some controversy, with Hansen saying the thriller was "detached from reality". He did, however, invite Pattinson and director Lance Oppenheim to speak on his podcast.

Related: Best streaming services UK 2026 – including Disney Plus, Netflix, iPlayer and Apple TV

The actor hasn't yet taken Hansen up on his offer, but he did speak to the Press Association (via The Independent) during a screening of the film at the 70th BFI London Film Festival, and explained the film's themes and stance on the subject matter.

"It's a portrait, and it's not an indictment of Chris as a person at all," he said. "[It] was never supposed to be like 'oh this is who he is.' It's the feeling you get from watching a show in a certain period of time and trying to encompass a lot of other different things into that story."

Pattinson, who also serves as a producer, also spoke of his admiration for the original series, noting: "I was familiar with him [Hansen], and I liked the show. I thought it was really interesting when I was younger.

"But it's just always an interesting thing where you have someone who feels like a very kind of familiar puppet figure, and you find someone who's looking at him from a really unusual angle that's just very surprising to you."

"It's familiar enough to be recognisable, but at the same time totally surprising," added the star, who said that Hansen's place as a public figure was "entirely unique" due to the circumstances of the series.

Related: Quentin Tarantino confirms "swashbuckling" career-first project with Sacha Baron Cohen

In addition to Pattinson, the cast for Primetime also includes Skyler Gisondo, Merritt Wever, Phoebe Bridgers and Alex Winter. Ari Aster serves as a producer, while Ajon Singh is the screenwriter.

At the time of writing, the psychological thriller has an impressive approval rating of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes from 238 reviews, while the audience score is at a solid 77% from over 1000 ratings.

Primetime is released in UK cinemas on 30 October.

Visit our Streaming Guide now to see at a glance where you can view ALL your favourite shows and movies.

The new edition of Legends, a 100-page celebration of Dolly Parton's life, is here. Buy Dolly in newsagents or online.

Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media.  His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.