A couple of months ago, Philip Noyce, the director of Rabbit-Proof Fence , Salt , and T he Quiet American , was on a long-haul flight to Goa with his teenage daughter. While his own critically-acclaimed films were listed on the in-flight entertainment system, his daughter ignored them and binged on Fast & Furious . “She watched the entire Fast & Furious series on the flight,” Noyce laughed. “My films were right there on the screen, but she chose Fast & Furious because the hours just flew away.”
And isn’t that the point of an in-flight movie session? It’s all about the escape, tricking your brain into forgetting that you’re sitting thousands of feet above the ground, for many hours at a stretch. And choosing what to watch on a flight The criterion is oddly specific. Horror? Too much screaming. Intimate scenes? Immediate skipping. Hijack movies? Big no.
We speak to several frequent fliers to understand how they decide what to watch on a plane. And yes, it’s a big decision.

‘I discovered new shows through screen-snooping on flights’
Screen-snooping pays off – many viewers say they’ve found new shows by noticing what others are watching. Alejandro (late 20s) swears by it. “It’s like the modern version of reading the title of the book the person next to you is reading,” he says. “In airport lounges and flights, I kept seeing serious, silver-haired business class fliers watching a show with Larry David doing bizarre things. It happened over a few months. I was intrigued and I finally cracked it – Curb Your Enthusiasm .”
Meghna Chadha, a viewer in her late 40s, adds, “A couple of months back, I was on a short flight watching Adolescence . I noticed my co-passenger was also watching it. So were two other people nearby. I kept glancing to see which episode they were on. I remember thinking, ‘these are my kind of people,’” she laughs. Vipin, a frequent flier, confesses to doing a bit of screen snooping. He recently sat diagonally across from someone watching Sholay with English subtitles. “I wasn’t trying to be nosy,” he says, “but I just couldn’t look away. I read all the subtitles, heard the Hindi dialogues in my head, and I was enjoying it a lot.”

You don’t just choose a movie for yourself
Turns out, a lot of fliers are concerned about their fellow passengers’ judgments. Sabila, a viewer in her mid 30s, says, “There are films you can watch alone, but they are not films you can watch in a confined space like a plane. It’s about being civil. For instance, if you’re a man and the person next to you is a woman, you’d want to avoid watching anything that makes you look like a creep. You are being watched, so choose wisely.” You don’t just choose a movie for yourself Turns out, a lot of fliers are concerned about their fellow passengers’ judgments. Sabila, a viewer in her mid 30s, says, “There are films you can watch alone, but they are not films you can watch in a confined space like a plane. It’s about being civil. For instance, if you’re a man and the person next to you is a woman, you’d want to avoid watching anything that makes you look like a creep. You are being watched, so choose wisely.”

‘Remember inflight movies the best as it has our undivided attention’
Some save the best movies for flights. Bhimika Pandya, who is in her late 50s, says she remembers movies she saw on planes more vividly than anything she watches at home. “It’s because your screen has your full attention on the plane. No phone. No emails. No doorbells. No food delivery. You’re not going out of the room again and again. You have nothing better to do than stare at that tiny screen – or nap.”
Harinder Singh, a viewer in mid 40s, treats longhaul flights as a way to catch up on his watchlist. His choices: missed blockbusters, comfort movies, and animation. Fliers like Vidushi even measure flights in movie units. “For me long flights are like three or four films and multiple naps,” she says. “Miniseries work too, but only if I finish the show before landing. No one wants to deboard on a cliffhanger.”