MovieSlap First Impressions: The Invisible Pilot (2022)

April 23, 2022 · AJ

I clicked “play” on The Invisible Pilot (2022) for a few reasons: First of all, it’s an HBO series, and I generally like what they offer. Second, it’s supposedly about a mysterious suicide of a family man with a bunch of twists and turns. Sounds interesting! And third, it’s only three episodes. Should be a quick, entertaining binge. Right?

About thirty minutes into the first episode, I felt a headache taking hold. I was just hit with a half hour-long, frenetic, unfocused mess. When I write these reviews, I’m always very careful not to come anywhere near spoiler territory. In the case of this clump of retatta, that was pretty easy to accomplish because I have absolutely no idea what in the world The Invisible Pilot is supposed to be about.

Absolute Confusion

In only the first twenty minutes, there were short bursts of interview clips from several members of the subject’s family giving multiple interviews over, inexplicably, multiple years spanning from 2009 through 2021. Then they began referencing what felt like at least twenty other folks, including ex-wives, brothers, extended family, and friends. Interspersed with all these mentions were brief flashes of a family tree being filled in as each person was mentioned, but it was on and off the screen so fast that I couldn’t understand it.

Here is a list of the topics I heard these various people mention in only this first stretch of the episode:

Crop dusting
The moon landing
The Force (as in Star Wars)
Bill Clinton’s campaign ads for Governor
The guy who supposedly jumped off the bridge
Memphis
Godzilla
Arkansas
Christmas in 1947
San Diego

All of these details, names, and places were offered up with little to no context, while non-stop background music summoned the pain within my brain.

It was at this moment when, all of a sudden, the music stopped. There was finally peace and quiet, as the camera focused on a single chair in a large, empty room. The filmmaker’s voice began an interview with the next subject of interest. Could it be that I had weathered the storm and now the actual story would begin? Was there hope that this film will…. and then the loud music began again along with the continuation of the family… Never mind.

As I reached for the controller in an effort to preserve what was left of my sanity, the subject’s wife appeared on screen. Apparently we were now in Alaska, and it was her time to be mad at the government over doobie demonization and misrepresentation. Seems like a fitting cue to switch over to something else.

First Impression: (Not even) one episode, and I’m done.

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