What does Chris Hansen think of A24's To Catch a Predator movie starring Robert Pattinson?

Chris Hansen told Shawn Ryan he had not seen the A24 film, only its trailer, and that apart from Robert Pattinson saying his name and telling someone to have a seat, nothing in the trailer ever happened. He calls it a twisted work of fiction that turns child-protection work into a story about power-hungry television people, and an insult to the police and others who do that work. He says Pattinson is just doing his job, and that he himself is disappointed rather than furious.

• Hansen says the film uses his real name plus the names of his producer and some family members.
• Hansen says director Lance Oppenheim called the film a love letter to him, but nobody from the production ever spoke to him.
• Hansen says Pattinson never met him, which he thinks puts the actor in a difficult spot during press.
• Hansen said the film opens in New York on 24 September and nationwide on 25 September, after a showing at the Venice film festival.

▸In their words

“Nothing in that trailer ever happened in real life.” Chris Hansen · at 1:31:09 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on The Shawn Ryan Show (2026-10-26). Read the whole episode summary →

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