The Next Picture Show

Primetime is a far-from-straightforward take on a true story, using the mid-aughts TV phenomenon To Catch a Predator and especially its host, Chris Hansen, for a darkly comic exploration of the morally murky place where ambition and justice overlap. It’s a tonal high wire act that gets a lot of mileage out of Lance Oppenheim’s expressively stylized direction and strong performances from Robert Pattinson, Merritt Wever, and Skyler Gisondo, but whether that all adds up to a satisfying film is up for debate this week. Then we bring 1957’s Sweet Smell of Success back in for Connections to discuss how it and Primetime both navigate protagonists who punch down from their moral high ground, and the bygone media environments that enable them, all while maintaining a sense of humor. Then, for anyone looking for a fuller picture of To Catch a Predator’s rise and fall, we offer a Your Next Picture Show for David Osit’s 2025 documentary Predators.
Please share your thoughts about Sweet Smell of Success, Primetime, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.
This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off.
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Lance Oppenheim’s Primetime paints problematic TV phenomenon To Catch a Predator — and especially its host, Chris Hansen — as an enterprise fueled by ambition, amorality, and a tenuous grasp of journalistic ethics. Those qualities put us in mind of the cursed collaboration between desperate press agent Sidney Falco and influential columnist J.J. Hunsecker in 1957’s Sweet Smell of Success, so this week we’re digging into the twisted loyalties and razor-sharp dialogue of Alexander Mackendrick’s blisteringly cynical portrayal of a very different era in tabloid journalism. Then in Feedback, a listener helps flesh out a bit of William Friedkin trivia that came up during our recent Sorcerer discussion.
Please share your thoughts about Sweet Smell of Success, Primetime, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.
This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off.
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShow
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a lot to enjoy about The Weight: the tactile 1930s Oregon setting, strong performances from Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe, a premise that allows for multiple suspense sequences. But Padraic McKinley’s directorial debut is arguably lacking in thematic heft and visceral grit, particularly when compared to the other film in this pairing. So after considering how The Weight succeeds and struggles on its own terms, we bring William Friedkin’s 1977 cult classic Sorcerer back in to consider how these two films about desperate men given a deadly opportunity differ in their approach to flawed protagonists, bridge-based action scenes, and lone female characters of consequence, and the one plot hole they have in common. Then our returning guest, Vulture critic Roxana Hadadi, offers a Your Next Picture Show recommendation for another 2026 film involving the transportation of dangerous cargo, The Rivals of Amziah King.
Please share your thoughts about Sorcerer, The Weight, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.
Next Pairing: Lance Oppenheim’s Primetime and Alexander Mackendrick’s Sweet Smell of Success
This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off.
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShow
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Padraic McKinley’s The Weight isn’t a remake ofThe Wages of Fear, though it feels deeply indebted to the H.G. Clouzot classic in its thrilling depiction of a group of outlaws on a near-impossible mission across deadly terrain. William Friedkin’s 1977 cult favorite Sorcerer technically isn’t a Wages remake, either — Friedkin insisted it was his own adaptation of the original Georges Arnaud novel — though it’s similarly difficult to watch without thinking about its predecessor. So you’ll forgive us if this week’s revisitation of Sorcerer takes a few detours into Wages as we consider how Friedkin put his own distinctive stamp on this juicy premise, whether the film’s extended prologue works toward or against its narrative momentum, and how much of Sorcerer’s notoriously arduous production comes across on screen. Then in Feedback, a listener provides a recommendation for a recent under-the-radar road movie that follows in the tire tracks of Paris, Texas and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
Please share your thoughts about Sorcerer, The Weight, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.
This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off.
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShow
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alexander Ullom's It Ends is a daring little piece of microbudget drama about four friends at transition points in their lives, who find themselves in a place where life and death no longer hold any meaning. Whether it’s a film about despair, about the afterlife, about the human condition, or all of the above, is up for discussion this week, as well as how It Ends fits into this current moment in independent horror cinema. After that, we bring Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris back in for Connections to discuss these two films’ respective existential journeys, the baggage their characters are bringing with them, and how each movie uses its genre premise to explore a big central metaphor. Then for Your Next Picture Show, we take a quick look at how Steven Soderbergh’s 2002 version of Solaris compares to Tarkovsky’s.
Please share your thoughts about Solaris, It Ends, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.
Next Pairing: Padraic McKinley’s The Weight and William Friedkin’s Sorcerer
This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off.
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShow
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.