The films that work on a small screen with limited attention. Comedy and easy drama rather than three-hour Tarkovsky.
Flight viewing is a structurally distinct cinematic experience. The screen is small (typically 6-12 inches), the audio is often through poor-quality headphones, the surrounding environment is loud, attention is interrupted by meal service and announcements, and the viewer is typically exhausted. Most films are structurally inappropriate for the situation; some films are specifically suited to it.
Our picks of films that work on a flight.
Films that require sustained attention to dialogue (Aaron Sorkin films, most extended-monologue work) do not survive the flight environment. Films that depend on detailed visual composition (most prestige-cinema, contemporary 65mm-shot films) lose their primary appeal at flight screen size. Films with significant violence or grief content can produce uncomfortable emotional experiences in the proximity of strangers. Three-hour films do not, structurally, fit standard flight durations without interruption.
The films above mostly avoid these structural problems. They are comedy-or-light-drama, they have clear dramatic structure that works at any attention level, they have musical or visual energy that survives small-screen viewing, and they leave the audience in a better mood than they started in. The combination is what flight viewing actually requires.