Knives Out
If you want something that actually keeps your brain occupied, Knives Out gives you a mystery without becoming homework. There are enough suspects and twists to keep the little flight-map button from becoming tempting.
Top Gun: Maverick
One Reddit traveler named this alongside Crazy Rich Asians as a movie familiar enough to work as background entertainment. There is something slightly unhinged about watching it at 35,000 feet, but perhaps that is part of the appeal.
Oppenheimer
For once, the three-hour runtime is an advantage. One Reddit user chose Oppenheimer on an almost 12-hour flight specifically because a longer movie meant a bigger chunk of the journey was taken care of.
The Intern
The Intern is the movie equivalent of choosing the comfortable travel outfit. Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway give you low-stakes workplace drama, some laughs, and almost nothing likely to make the stranger beside you glance nervously at your screen.
Legally Blonde
Elle Woods getting into Harvard and proving everyone wrong works pretty much anywhere. It is short, familiar, funny, and requires approximately zero adjustment when a flight attendant interrupts the best part to offer you pretzels.
Airplane!
Yes, several people gave the most obvious answer possible. Airplane! is short, packed with jokes, and probably the rare movie where watching an aviation disaster while physically aboard an aircraft somehow makes the whole experience less stressful.
