ADMIT ONE · Media-Sickness Double Feature · Seat: Have a Seat
The real Chris Hansen walked into a packed Times Square screening of Primetime, A24's movie about him. Nobody clocked him. His review afterward: "so detached from reality" (Deadline). Then he took it to his podcast, called 98% of it "pure fiction," and handed Robert Pattinson a D (TMZ). Best part: he'd already bought pre-show ads that run before Primetime screenings, plugging his own streaming network (Consequence).
Audiences didn't care. Primetime pulled $19.2 million opening weekend, the third-best opening in A24 history (Variety). And the critics keep landing on one name. /Film called Pattinson "electric, scary" (/Film).
Heads up: Primetime (2026) isn't on goodrecmovies yet. It's too fresh to make the cut. Every pick below is on the site right now.
Tear the stub: if Primetime got under your skin
Nightcrawler (2014) is the first ticket to punch. /Film names it as one of the movies that "covered similar territory." Jake Gyllenhaal figures out that if it bleeds, it leads, and then helps it bleed.
Network (1976) is the other title /Film puts next to Primetime. It's the original TV-eats-its-soul satire, and it still reads like a warning label.
American Psycho (2000) gets the nod from Consequence, which says Pattinson's Hansen "bears a lot of resemblance to Christian Bale's work in American Psycho, just slightly dialed down" (Consequence review). Go see it with the dial all the way up.
Ace in the Hole (1951) has a reporter keep a man trapped because the story's too good to end. That's Primetime's ratings hunger, seventy-five years early.
The King of Comedy (1982) is for when fame is the only feeling a character has left.
Broadcast News (1987) plays it gentler, but it's still about the moment the camera starts deciding what counts as true.
Still craving Pattinson?
The AP says 2026 has been an especially good year for him (AP via WTOP). Finish the run:
- The Drama (2026): the AP calls his character the "memorably unnerved fiancé."
- The Odyssey (2026): he's the sleazy suitor Antinous. Still in theaters.
- Good Time (2017): Pattinson at his most feral and sweaty. If Primetime's bad vibes worked on you, this one has plenty more.
The documentary chaser
Several reviews point to David Osit's 2025 documentary Predators as the sober companion piece (/Film, Consequence). It isn't on goodrecmovies, because we don't list documentaries. Consequence says it's streaming on Paramount+.
Pick your stub. Start with Nightcrawler. Argue about Hansen's grade later.
Sources: Deadline (Sep 25, 2026), TMZ (Sep 26, 2026), Consequence (Sep 24 & 25, 2026), Variety (Sep 27, 2026), /Film (Sep 22, 2026), AP/WTOP (Sep 23, 2026).