PREDATORS Trailer: Sundance Doc Examines The Complicated Legacy of a TV Sensation

Documentarian David Osit (Mayor) examines the rise and fall of the sensational reality series “To Catch a Predator” in his newest documentary, Predators. The film, which premiered at Sundance, takes a closer look at the moral and ethical dilemmas that surrounded the late series, which aired from 2004 to 2007, but left a legacy of vigilanteism and reenactments in its wake. It features behind-the-scenes footage of the show and a new interview with the show’s host, Chris Hansen. Ahead of its release in theaters on September 19, the first official trailer has arrived from MTV Documentary Films.

Here’s the official 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.

Watch the trailer below.

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