Disclaimer: I’m a blind film critic. I’m not Chris Hanson.

the new Paramount/MTV documentary Predators, which made its debut earlier this year at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival has some questions. But, does it actually answer them? David Osit shines a light on the former pop culture phenomenon that was To Catch A Predator, and while he’s only slightly in his own documentary, he does seem to suggest that perhaps the ends don’t justify the means. In order for there to be a predator, there must be prey.

He explores this by getting different sides of the same coin from Sheriffs and prosecutors who were responsible for everything after the initial catch. Some departments refused to work with Dateline and Perverted Justice, because they did not want the TV production crew interfering in police procedure, while another prosecutor admits he threw all their catch’s out, based on the perception that Chris Hanson was acting as an arm of the police department. His initial conversation with the subject never reads anyone their rights, or informs them they are under arrest. Hanson wants that “oh shit” moment. That’s what brings in the ratings.

We also talk to some of the actors hired to be decoys, both male and female, who are now even more grown up, and see what the legacy has left for them. One of them was involved in a catch gone horribly wrong, which he’s had to live with ever since. But, in all of this, Chris and his copycats of which there are many) would argue the ends justify the means. There’s really no argument against that, except humanizing the approach, and presenting these men (most of whom had no criminal record) as being in need of therapy they never got in lieu of jail time.

But there are no statistics either way to suggest To catch A Predator was effective or otherwise. He couldn’t even get one predator on camera. The closest we come is the mother of an 18-year old featured on Hanson’s spinoff program whose life was ruined just as it started. He can’t even be alone in the same room with his younger brother, who is 16.

But for a documentary that seeks why, and has the director admit that when he watched the show as a victim of molestation himself, he wanted to hear people talk about the why behind all of it. No one ever does. there’s a very bizarre and difficult documentary called Zoo, which is not for everyone, but at least that film had the cojones to approach those who would be considered weirdos and outcasts.

there are fair points made, about whether this was ever the right way to do it, and have cops worried about making things look good for cameras, but it feels incomplete. It feels like a filmmaker didn’t get the answers he wanted, and abandoned the quest, editing the film as best he can. he ends up on the positive side because so much of it does work, but what keeps this from ever fully being excellent is his inability to find one person, one predator, wiling to answer his grand question: Why?

I remember the phenomenon, which I thought was even earlier than when it actually was. I remember Hanson being turned into a meme, and sketches being done around the concept as a gag. But with all of this out there, has it actually curbed any behavior trends, or did it just make people more aware of what was going on?

In order for there to be a predator, there has to be a victim. While the documentary isn’t sure who that is, it does present a compelling case of why entertainment and law enforcement shouldn’t go hand in hand.

Fresh: 7.5/10