Predators (2025)

Predators is a 2025 documentary film produced and directed by David Osit. It follows the rise and fall of the reality television program To Catch a Predator, which aired on NBC from 2004 to 2007.

The film had its world premiere at the U.S. Documentary Competition of 2025 Sundance Film Festival on January 25. It was theatrically released on September 19, 2025, by MTV Documentary Films.

Premise

The documentary film explores the rise and fall of the reality television program To Catch a Predator, which aired on NBC from 2004 to 2007 featuring interviews with some of the former decoys, clips and unseen raw footage from the series (alongside other archival footage featuring Jimmy Kimmel, Oprah Winfrey and Jon Stewart praising the show's impact on popular culture) and an interview with host Chris Hansen.

Production

David Osit wanted to make a documentary revolving around To Catch a Predator after finding a fan community on Reddit, 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 Sundance Film Festival 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 and Rolling Stone.

In March 2025, MTV Documentary Films acquired distribution rights to the film. It was released on September 19, 2025,

In November 2025, Paramount+ announced it would begin streaming the film worldwide starting December 8.

Reception

Critical response

Predators received positive reviews from film critics, and has been cited as one of the year's best documentaries. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 97% of 78 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "A searing and intellectually rigorous documentary, Predators examines the motives behind public justice to reveal the disturbing ethical consequences of turning real life trauma into spectacle." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 83 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

In his Critic's Pick review for IndieWire, David Ehrlich referred to the film as "raw and riveting", and Variety 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." It was also listed as a New York Times Critic's Pick.

Accolades

Predators was nominated for a Peabody Award and a News and Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Documentary.

Lists

References

See also

Dark Side of the 2000s – documentary series similar in content

Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action

Criticism of reality television

External links

Predators at IMDb

Predators at Rotten Tomatoes

To Catch a Predator: exploring the uneasy legacy of the controversial TV series, an article about the show and the documentary film on The Guardian

Official trailer

Interview with the filmmaker