Pattinson's 'Primetime' Stuns Venice With 8-Minute Ovation

A24's 'Primetime' premiered at Venice on Saturday, drawing a nearly eight-minute standing ovation and a five-star BBC review despite Chris Hansen's objections.

Lance Oppenheim's 'Primetime' had its world premiere Saturday at the 83rd Venice Film Festival, with Robert Pattinson playing 'To Catch a Predator' host Chris Hansen. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the packed Sala Grande audience responded with a nearly eight-minute electric standing ovation, and attendees including Ari Aster began chanting "Lance!" in honor of the director. The Hollywood Reporter also notes Pattinson shared a kiss with Suki Waterhouse, and that Jeff Zucker — who plays himself in the film — recorded the scene.

BBC Culture awarded the film five stars, with reviewer Nicholas Barber calling Pattinson's turn "extraordinary" and "the best performance yet from the most intriguing actor of his generation." The BBC reports the film is a heightened, hallucinatory black comedy rather than a straightforward drama, with Oppenheim describing Pattinson's Hansen as a cross between Jerry Maguire and Dracula.

The real Chris Hansen was not involved in the film and declined an invitation to see it because he was asked to sign an NDA, The Hollywood Reporter reports. According to Variety, Hansen has criticized Pattinson's portrayal as "overly dramatic" based on the trailer alone, though he admitted his family "seem to think it's a pretty good imitation." The Hollywood Reporter adds that Hansen bought pre-show advertising on every screen showing the A24 release to promote TruBlu, his own predator-investigation streaming network.

Loosely adapted by first-time screenwriter Ajon Singh from Luke Dittrich's Esquire article, 'Primetime' dramatizes the darkest year of Hansen's tenure on 'To Catch a Predator,' which ran on Dateline NBC from 2004 to 2007. Oppenheim calls it an "institutional portrait" and a "docu-fantasia," tracing "a journalistic crusader, a mercenary TV producer and a wide-eyed Hollywood dreamer" converging into crisis. BBC notes the screenplay frames the show as ending one TV era — 'Friends' wrapped in 2004 — and beginning a grim new age of reality television. Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo and Phoebe Bridgers, in her acting debut, co-star.

BBC calls 'Primetime' "sure to be an Oscar contender — although it may be a controversial one," and it lands in US cinemas September 25 and UK cinemas October 30. Pattinson told the press conference, "Obviously, I hope he likes the movie," per Variety. The festival concludes with its awards ceremony on September 12, per The Hollywood Reporter.