Primetime

Oppenheim hints at everything without really making a convincing argument about anything. The stylistic flourishes the film resorts to in aid of this high-minded effort seem self-aggrandizing. Given its ambiguity over what it wants to say, Primetime chooses silence.

"Primetime" moves at the propulsive pace of a thriller, but has the style of an arthouse horror movie at its squirmiest. It's a movie — garishly monstrous, grotesque, and compulsively entertaining.

PRIMETIME boasts of a fascinating premise, stylish treatment and a terrific performance by Robert Pattinson. But the uneven writing, niche narrative and lack of consistent engagement restrict its impact.

Robert Pattinson is extraordinary. I genuinely think this is the best performance of his career, and very possibly my favourite performance of the year so far. He has found something incredibly foul in Hansen. Oppenheim is doing something genuinely devious with Primetime... This is exploitation art made from exploitative artists, and it's wickedly entertaining to witness.

An uncompromisingly grimy approach would be actively repellent were it not for the extraordinary performances, which make 'Primetime' a thing you cannot stop watching even as the desire to flee to the nearest shower cubicle grows. Pattinson's mimicry of the real Hansen's physical mannerisms and his vocal impersonation, capturing the self-consciously over-rehearsed cadences of Hansen's speech, is uncanny.