THE PILOT's eponymous protagonist is a drone operator for the French military, who is engaged, along with his colleagues, in an anti-terrorist mission in Mali. His wife and young daughter are kidnapped and he is given the ultimatum to sabotage his mission or watch them die via videostream.
Although thematically, THE PILOT is somewhat similar to previous movies such as EYE IN THE SKY (2015) and GOOD KILL (2015), which involve a military drone operator who is conflicted in some way, what sets this film apart is its format as what has been called a "screenlife" movie: the entire story plays out on various computer and cell phone screens, putting us right there with the characters.
For those who are not familiar with this format, it has been used to make some excellent gripping movies, mainly in the horror genre, such as THE DEN (2013), UNFRIENDED (2014), UNFRIENDED: DARK WEB (2020) and HOST (2020), as well as in the thriller genre, such as SEARCHING (2018), MISSING (2020) and CTRL (2024).
THE PILOT takes the bells and whistles of this format to a new level, as we witness high-tech drone operations, ground operations and, of course the events in the drone operator room as well the hotel room where the hostages are held.
The acting, particularly by the main protagonist and the child actress, and the production values are very good, the pace is fast and one hardly notices some of the CGI, but more importantly, the story is told in a genuinely suspenseful manner. Perhaps because this is a French movie, the plot deviates from typical Hollywood fare in that it does not shy away from showing the ugliness of the whole enterprise. Overall, I am really impressed with this film.
There are a few minor quibbles, on which your mileage may vary: the movie gives the impression that it plays out in real time, but it seems to me that there is no way that some of the plot points could be reached so quickly, one after the other. But I forgive this as a necessary compromise in the interest of maintaining a fast pace and suspense.
At times the screen is so busy it becomes reminiscent of watching a video game, but then, that may well have been part of the point, given that a major ethical challenge in military drone operations is that they gamify human death and suffering.
For those who are not fluent in French, the subtitles can present a challenge, as there is sometimes so much going on that it becomes difficult to both follow the action and read the subtitles. This film definitely deserves an English-language dubbing, though even then there will be still a need for subtitles for all the text messages that are exchanged.
This is one of those hidden gems which, perhaps because of the language barrier, or perhaps because another movie by the same name came out the year before, has not received the attention and love it definitely deserves. Writer/Director Paul Doucet deserves a lot of kudos for his finely crafted action thriller.
