User Reviews

It works as entertainment and manages to offer quality in the performance.

Although the plot lengthens during the film, it manages to be entertaining. Highlights include the good performances from the entire cast, excellent production design, good photography, good directing, and compelling makeup. On the other hand, the script is not its greatest strength, it does not explain why that happens, there is no development of some characters and others end up discarding them. I feel like there is a message behind it, but it can't be made known.

I like how they apply psychology to the main character, it describes why it is like that but it does not describe why he is doing it, something that you expect throughout the film, although it manages to entertain and to stand out in the technical aspects.

Prime Time would've worked out much better as a short film and a quicker run through the plot. Because at the overlong 90 minutes it runs for here, it's makes for a terrible movie night with thrills that would work out, but just get squashed because of the pace..

So the main reason this Polish thriller is utterly worthless is just because of how stretched out it is. Without giving out actual spoilers, the film is all just about a man who interrupts live TV, threatens the crew with a gun, and demands to talk on live air. It's a very weird, very unusual, but a smart idea that could've worked out, but it went and wasted it's opportunity. You can literally just watch the trailer and you've basically seen the entire movie in the form of a well-made recap.

The film's only upside is the lead performance, in which is thrilling enough to hold you through. It probably would've been great if it was a short film with a 15 minute runtime, as the rest is just unnecessary, flat and and extremely tedious with no aim at all.

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Dont see what all the fuss is about, totally a waste of time, no explanation for the story, boring and an hour too long.

Summary

Prime Time is a film about a lost and desperate young man who wants to massively transmit a message in the pre-social media era and must be evaluated as a disenchanted drama and not as a thriller.

Review

An armed young man breaks into a Polish television studio during the broadcast of a program on New Years Eve 1999 and takes his host and a security guard hostage with the demand to read a message live.

I believe that Jakub Piatek's film should not be seen as a thriller but as a drama and even as an antithriller. The wrong gender assignment will be a source of misjudgment and will frustrate those who see it with thriller expectations. And this is clearly the risk that its director takes and the challenge that it poses to the viewer. On the other hand, the Piatek most successfully doses the implicit theatricality of his proposal, resulting from filming in almost a single stage space a story that also takes place in real time, without ellipsis.

Sebastian (Bartosz Bielenia) is an anonymous young man, between disenchanted and desperate, who wants to make himself heard in a very special historical moment or who lives as special. He must negotiate with the unexpected bureaucracy of the television station and with the erratic behavior of the security forces. Meanwhile, the monitors offer a mosaic of the expectations and demands of Poles in the face of the new millennium. What will Sebastian's message be?

In retrospect, it is interesting to note that we are in a pre-social media era and the only way for an outsider to make themselves heard was to break into TV.

Prime Time is a sad drama without heroes, which does not follow the rules of dramatic progression of the thriller but the ups and downs of reality, where everyone does what they can and how they can while we wait for the reading of poor Sebastian's message, in a movie that is locates in our point of view, preserving its necessary anonymity.

Pointless. No sense. No story. No final. Don't waste 1.5 hours of your life.

The film had everything to be good but its ending was disappointing. What message did the film want to convey? I didn't understand and It frustrated me because I was expecting an interesting ending. The actors performance was great but, the ending ruined everything.

Bartosz Bielenia, Magdalena Poplawska and Andrzej Klak's performances were wonderful. I also liked the female police officer as well.

The title attracted my attention as soon as I saw it on Netflix, and then I was hooked by the filmography, story line and suspense.

However... The bulk of climatic moments disappointed. From a social/emotional standpoint, after waiting until the near end, we never got to hear the critical message to the public which would have provided both personal satisfaction and social insight. And lastly, I was very disappointed in the stage crew's responses (and lack thereof) as well as decisions made by police.

I agree it's boring I wasted an hour and a half , and I never new what the freaken message was that he wanted to air!!!!

As I have already said about MONEY MONSTER - a film whch the topic is very close to this one - and another Polish movie released by Netflix last year. LE GOUT DE LA HAINE - French release title - Sidney Lumet's shadow and spirit seems to be in both films. A radical critism of the human world and society, thru networks for instance. Gloomy, depressing but so close to reality.

Do you self a favor and watch " The Hater " 9/10

This movie starts good but goes nowhere ( storyweise too ) , you wait all the time him to say something but then the movie ends and all that ( nothing ) for nothing , this movie could be something realy great but turns out its a waste of time. The title "Prime Time" and the premise that you imagine in your head its 100x better then this movie i should let it stay it that way, bad movie.

In "Prime Time" the young Sebastian (Bartosz Bielenia) wants his 15 minutes of fame and glory by taking over a TV station to deliver a message to Polish people on New Year's Eve 1999. As hostages he takes over the TV host Mira (Magdalena Poplawska) and the assistant Grzegorz (Andrzej Klak). Tension arises when the police is called and the armed man is eager with his plan of delivering his message to the point of threats to kill everyone.

Interesting premise with great thrilling moments, "Prime Time" may alienate viewers who expect a more elaborated storyline. The intensity of the man's action gets on the way of finding out what's the message this troubled young man wants to give. And it's thanks to the great Bartosz Bielenia, from the amazing "Corpus Christi" that the movie finds some soul and interest. He's an intense and interesting character who struggles with his problems of speech but he's under control over the situation at the TV station leaving everybody nervous all around. To me, since he doesn't give any reasoning for his actions, we are led to believe it was just a rebelious acts to show how unprepared the police system is in giving a proper response to a hostage situation where he can toy those guys around for hours and get the TV people putting him live with a loaded gun.

Sure, it's obvious one wants to expect more from "Prime Time" but the best you're gonna get is the tension and thrills of the story, going from the hostage situation to the people in the booth control trying to solve the situation. The ultimate conclusion one can get from here it's a story about a troubled young man desperate for attention and that's the only way he can get from people. With a more proper message to leave us in more suspense than the usual thriller routine, this movie would be perfect. I liked it and I don't think it goes to waste but I can understand why it may upset more demanding viewers. The editing is fine, the rhythm is adequate and balanced, and there's even some room for dark humor. The acting makes a more than decent experience. Worth of view. 7/10.

Russian movie?! Obviously, it's Polish. Unless I am missing something.

Totally pointless and disappointing ending. No message delivers, no nothing. Story about a weak and mentally disturbed men.

It s a nonsense movie wich is presenting the same scene repeadtly.in other way .

The entirety of the film leans towards the expectation of what he wants to say....then NOTHING! Absolutely nothing!! The end!!

A great example of how to translate country's identity to a film. Thrilling to the last second, unexpected,leaves you wanting more. Outstanding performance by Bartosz Bielenia - an actor all should watch out for. Don't skip it only because you don't understand the language, just watch it.

No sense at all. Literally nothing happens in the movie.

There is no story, nothing!!!

Waste of my time too dragging can finish in 10 minutes.

Maybe the director was getting even for all the injustices, real and perceived, heaped on him till he made a film. But what did the audience do to deserve it?