I was only aware of the TV show To Catch a Predator in passing. I knew of Chris Hansen as a public figure, had seen a few clips of some of the predators getting caught on the show, and I would frequently come upon the “why don’t you have a seat” memes scouring through many online spaces when I was much younger. There is a greater moral responsibility for shows like this to be honest to their audiences about what it is they’re presenting, as well as the potential lifetime consequences that can come about with levying these accusations towards people – that they are pedophiles, or child predators so to speak. The documentary Predators centres this moral responsibility as its core subject matter, walking a fine tightrope when it comes to the ethics of producing a show like TCAP, highlighting these crimes to a wider audience for the purposes of it being a ‘public service’ and how at odds this objective is with its presentation formatted as entertainment for the masses. We see this in the ways in which people are caught up in the crossfire for better or for worse – such as the attorney who committed suicide which brought about the decline and end of the show, as well the 18 year old whose mom is interviewed. To that end, the show never seeks to attempt to understand the reasons behind why people commit these acts to begin with – not even Chris Hansen himself knows despite him asking that question constantly to the people who he catches in the show. Rather, the theatrics are meant to serve peoples’ own ideals of what justice and punishment are supposed to be. Performative, but never actually getting to the root of the issue.

I admire that aspect of the documentary, although part of me wonders whether or not this documentary does that particular messaging any justice to what is admittedly a very complex issue. Someone asked during the Q&A with director David Osit why he ultimately decided not to have a segment featuring an actual predator from the show speaking his mind on his experience – given how easy it would be to track them down on a sex offender registry list – and Osit’s answer was simply discomfort over opening that can of worms as someone who was a victim himself. It makes sense. Even what we have here it seems like there’s a lot of empathy and emphasis on how it affected the actual predators in the show as opposed to the actual victims of these crimes. I would imagine that angle will turn off some who side with the victims quite heavily on the matter, and there’s plenty of good reason to take that approach as well. But I also think that makes for an uninteresting documentary – we know it’s bad, why spend 90 minutes on it? What’s interesting is the nuanced take that Predators approaches this subject matter with, even if it provides no clear answers. There’s a through-line here between shows like To Catch a Predator and the current Trump administration’s use of posting videos of ICE arrests on social media set to music like the Pokemon theme song. Turning justice into a circus act has become the norm – and people do not realize it.

The biggest revelation for me however were the copycat shows – a lot of content creators in the wake of TCAP’s cancellation have tried taking on that confrontational mantle in the wake of TCAP’s ending. The “Skeet Hansen” guy was certainly something – telling people they’ve just been “skeeted” while the dude is having the worst time of his life, and having one of the producers ask him to sign a release form while he is breaking down is true A-grade absurdist dark comedy at its finest. The film ends with an interview segment where Osit talks to Chris Hansen himself, which only serves to give us no further insights coming from Hansen himself as he walks off, CCTV cameras trailing him back to his car where he is transported out of view as the movie ends – and that is that.