A new documentary about “To Catch a Predator” is coming to metro Detroit.
“Predators,” which opens Oct. 10 at the Birmingham 8 Powered By Emagine, describes itself as “chilling, thought-provoking exploration of the scintillating rise and staggering fall” of the investigative series, which ran as part of NBC’s “Dateline” from 2004 to 2007.
The film is directed by David Osit, whose work has won Peabody and Emmy awards. Osit earned a bachelor’s degree in Middle Eastern and North African Studies from the University of Michigan.
Former “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen is interviewed in the new documentary “Predators.”
“Predators” takes an in-depth look at “To Catch a Predator,” which featured decoys posing online as minors in an undercover search for potential child predators. When the men arrived to meet the the decoys, they were confronted by journalist (and former metro Detroiter) Chris Hansen (and arrested by police as they left the sites).
The documentary delves into issues like the show’s immense popularity with viewers, the ethical issues it raised and the impact it has had on the growth of true-crime TV as entertainment. Hansen became a household name as the host of the series, which grew into a cultural phenomenon that was lampooned by comedy shows like “South Park” and “Family Guy.”
In a director’s statement, Osit shares how the process of making the film would “not only challenge the limits of my own empathy, but reflect the tenuous morality behind how we tell stories, report news, and make films.”
Says Osit, “My frustration with true crime, I realized, came from the illusion that after watching a true crime story, the crime will be solved and we’ll get all the answers. But what if I made a film that was about what happens — and what are we capable of doing to each other — when answers can’t be found?”
For “Predators,” Osit interviewed numerous sources, from law enforcement officers to actors and academics to Hansen himself, who is an alum of Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Hills and Michigan State University. Hansen worked for WXYZ-TV from 1984 to 1988 and WDIV-TV from 1988 to 1993 and became well-known as a police reporter. In 1993, he joined NBC News.
The film also covers one of the better-known web imitators spawned by “To Catch a Predator,” a YouTuber from Michigan named Skeeter Jean, who calls himself a “professional Chris Hansen impersonator” on his Instagram account. Detroit’s Fox 2 News did a report about a month ago on Skeeter Jean in connection with the arrest of two men in Port Huron.
Poster for “Predators,” a new documentary about the 2004-2007 series “To Catch a Predator.”
In its review of the documentary, IndieWire noted that although “To Catch a Predator” framed itself as “an invitation to make sense of an inexplicable wrong, the show’s power was rooted in the permission it gave us to ignore why such heinous violations continue to happen.”
The New York Times review observed that while the series caught predators who might not otherwise have been found, “the presence of a camera adds a layer of ethical thorniness, effectively turning the filmmaker and the viewer into hunters.”
“Predators” had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, earning strong reviews for its thought-provoking approach. It currently has a 98% positive average among critics on the Rotten Tomatoes web site.
Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Documentary looks back on impact, ethics of ‘To Catch a Predator’
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