In a recent incident that has sparked widespread concern, Qantas Airways apologized for a technical malfunction that resulted in passengers aboard a Japan-bound flight being subjected to an explicit movie on every screen without the option to turn it off.
The incident occurred on a Qantas flight from Sydney, Australia, to Haneda Airport in Japan last week. According to a statement from Qantas, the airline confirmed the incident to FOX Business on Sunday, although it did not disclose the title of the film. However, reports from news.au identified the movie as “Daddio,” a drama featuring Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn.
The film is rated R for “language, sexual material, and brief graphic nudity,” which was particularly concerning for many passengers. A bewildered traveler shared their experience on Reddit, noting that the movie could not be paused or dimmed. They described it as featuring “graphic nudity and a lot of sexting” that could be easily read without headphones.
“It took almost an hour of this before they switched to a more kid-friendly movie, but it was super uncomfortable for everyone, especially with families and kids onboard,” the Reddit user recounted.
A Qantas representative explained that individual movie selection was unavailable due to the technical error. Once crew members recognized the issue, they promptly switched to a family-friendly film.
“The movie was clearly not suitable to play for the whole flight, and we sincerely apologize to customers for this experience… All screens were changed to a family-friendly movie for the rest of the flight, which is our standard practice for rare cases where individual movie selection isn’t possible,” the spokesperson said.
The airline is also reviewing how the film was selected for screening.
Passengers expressed their shock on social media, with one commenting on the audible gasps heard throughout the plane. Another passenger reflected on the discomfort caused to families.
“These poor kids and their parents… I honestly don’t know if that would’ve been worse,” the passenger said.
“Daddio,” which premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in September, revolves around a deep conversation between a cab driver and his passenger during a ride from JFK Airport to Manhattan. Despite its critical reception, the film’s explicit content was deemed inappropriate for the flight environment, leading to the airline’s apology and reassessment of its in-flight entertainment procedures.
FOX Business, the Guardian, and Deadline contributed to this report.
