MAP Forum

The Dateline NBC series “To Catch a Predator,” which aired from 2004 to 2007, largely adhered to a straightforward formula: Hire an actor who looks younger than his or her age to lure an adult who is seeking a sexual encounter with a child. Then, when the would-be predator arrives at a house, have the show’s host, the reporter Chris Hansen, emerge to interview the man, who is suddenly made aware that he is on camera, and who will ultimately be arrested upon exiting.

But as David Osit’s probing, troubling documentary “Predators” demonstrates, the sociological implications of the show were (and are) anything but simple, beginning with what the series’ popularity suggests about the viewers who watched it. Mark de Rond, an ethnographer who is interviewed at length in the film, is fascinated by the moment in which Hansen confronts his subject: “What you’re seeing is effectively someone else’s life end,” de Rond says, “and they realize it.” Why is it that TV watchers are drawn to seeing a person, however horrible, humiliated in this way?

Jim Burton wrote: Thu Sep 18, 2025 4:00 pm https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/movi ... eview.html

The Dateline NBC series “To Catch a Predator,” which aired from 2004 to 2007, largely adhered to a straightforward formula: Hire an actor who looks younger than his or her age to lure an adult who is seeking a sexual encounter with a child. Then, when the would-be predator arrives at a house, have the show’s host, the reporter Chris Hansen, emerge to interview the man, who is suddenly made aware that he is on camera, and who will ultimately be arrested upon exiting.

But as David Osit’s probing, troubling documentary “Predators” demonstrates, the sociological implications of the show were (and are) anything but simple, beginning with what the series’ popularity suggests about the viewers who watched it. Mark de Rond, an ethnographer who is interviewed at length in the film, is fascinated by the moment in which Hansen confronts his subject: “What you’re seeing is effectively someone else’s life end,” de Rond says, “and they realize it.” Why is it that TV watchers are drawn to seeing a person, however horrible, humiliated in this way?

It is never surprising to find that a documentary released in the UK by Dogwoof is a work of quality but their recent offerings have been such that they are on a roll. It was in mid-September that they had the courage to distribute The Golden Spurtle. On paper that film being about a porridge making championship suggested a work which one might tactfully describe as one of rather specialised appeal but when seen it proved to be one of the most uplifting and pleasurable films of 2025. Later that month The Librarians was a welcome alarm call about books being banned from American libraries and October brought us Love+War an outstanding bio-pic about the remarkable war photographer Lynsey Addario. And now we have Predators, another documentary worthy of awards. This is the third feature from David Osit whose talents embrace directing, editing and photography and, if its immediate predecessor, 2020’s Mayor, was a good observational work about life in Ramallah, this new piece takes him to a new level.