Predators

In the early two thousands a television programme in America drew large audiences. It set traps: men who had behaved as though talking to a child online were invited to a house, the presenter met them as they came in, the conversation was recorded and the police waited outside. The documentary takes up that programme. It watches the recordings again, talks with the people who worked on it and with the presenter, and examines how it was built: who prepared the trap, at what point the recording began and how the prosecutions went. David Osit directs. The documentary dates from 2025 and was shown at Sundance. The real question it builds is the position of the viewer; the documentary does not debate the crime, it asks why millions watched. In one episode a man took his own life when the teams came to his door; the documentary takes that event and the legal process after it in detail. Its most striking section is the interview with the presenter; the man defends his position and the narrative does not intervene. The documentary also takes up the production of similar content by individuals online today and shows how unregulated it is. The narrative nowhere defends the men; the matter is method and spectacle. Its limit is balance; the narrative at times avoids answering the question it asks. Who it is for: people who watch media criticism and documentary on television history. Who it is not for: the subject is extremely uncomfortable, the footage difficult, and the narrative offers no closure.