''Predators'' is a 2025 documentary film produced and directed by David Osit. It follows the rise and fall of the television program ''

To Catch a Predator ''To Catch a Predator'' is an American reality television series in the television news magazine program ''Dateline NBC'' featuring confrontations of host Chris Hansen, partly filmed with a hidden camera, with adult men arriving at a Sting oper ...

'', which aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

from 2004 to 2007. The film premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

on January 25, 2025, and is scheduled to be released on September 19, 2025, by MTV Documentary Films.

Premise

Follows the rise and fall of the television program ''

'', which aired on

from 2004 to 2007.

Production

David Osit wanted to make a documentary revolving around ''

'' after finding a fan community on

Reddit Reddit ( ) is an American Proprietary software, proprietary social news news aggregator, aggregation and Internet forum, forum Social media, social media platform. Registered users (commonly referred to as "redditors") submit content to the ...

, which included raw and unaired footage. Osit additionally wanted to explore copycat versions of the show made by other people.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the

on January 25, 2025, where it was cited as one of the best films of the festival by numerous publications including '' IndieWire'', '' Vanity Fair'', ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

''. In March 2025, MTV Documentary Films acquired distribution rights to the film. It is scheduled to be released on September 19, 2025.

Reception

''Predators'' received positive reviews from film critics. In his Critic's Pick review for IndieWire, David Ehrlich referred to the film as "raw and riveting", and

critic Guy Lodge wrote, "Osit’s brilliant, subtly needling film leaves us unnerved and alert, but not certain of our convictions -- an outcome, perhaps, that more true-crime programming should pursue.".

References

External links

* {{IMDB title, 34963732
''Predators'' at Rotten Tomatoes
2020s American films 2025 documentary films 2025 films American documentary films Documentary films about television Documentary films about crime in the United States Documentary films about sexual crimes Films scored by Tim Hecker MTV Films films