Doc Film ‘Predators’ Trailer Exploring the ‘To Catch a Predator’ Show
by Alex Billington
August 19, 2025
Source: YouTube
“Some people watching this may feel like you have something to answer for…” MTV Doc Films debuted the official trailer for a documentary film titled Predators, from director David Osit, one of the highest rated docs from the 2025 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Not to be confused with 2010 action movie Predators, or the upcoming sci-fi action movie Predator: Badlands, this film is actually about the infamous TV show called “To Catch a Predator” where they’d lure pedophiles into a house, and then show them on camera being caught & arrested. Looking back on the show and countless franchises it spawned, filmmaker David Osit turns his camera on journalists, actors, law enforcers, academics, and ultimately himself, to trace America’s obsession with watching people at their lowest. Predators is a chilling, edge of your seat film that delves into the murk of human nature to observe hunter, predator, subject and spectator alike, all ensnared in a complicated web of entertainment as far as the eye can see… This film applies critical thinking to the show and wonders whether it made a difference, or if it was just TV sensationalism that made things worse.
Here’s the official trailer (+ poster) for David Osit’s doc film Predators, direct from MTV Doc’s YouTube:
A cultural sensation from its inception in the early 2000s, Dateline NBC’s candid-camera investigative TV series To Catch a Predator ensnared sex offenders and lured them to a film set, where they would be interviewed and arrested while the cameras rolled. The show was a hit and transformed its host Chris Hansen into a moral crusader & TV star, while spawning a global industry of imitators & vigilantes. But why did we watch so voraciously — and why do we continue to devour its web-based, clickbait-driven offshoots? Looking back on the show and the countless franchises it spawned, filmmaker David Osit turns his camera on journalists, actors, law enforcers, academics, and ultimately himself, to trace America’s obsession with watching people at their lowest. Predators is directed by film editor / doc filmmaker David Osit, director of the films Thank You For Playing and Mayor previously. Produced by Jamie Gonçalves, Kellen Quinn, David Osit. This initially premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. MTV Docs will debut Osit’s Predators doc in select US theaters starting on September 19th, 2025 coming soon.
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