Graphic nudity, explicit material and images of genitals mean the film has an R16 rating in New Zealand yet was shown to passengers of all ages.
One passenger shared their experience on Reddit and claimed the film went on for almost an hour before crew turned off the movie and changed it to something child-friendly.
“It was super uncomfortable for everyone, especially with families and kids on-board,” they wrote, sharing photos of the screen, which played out an explicitly sexting scene between two characters.
Qantas has apologised to customers for the experience and said the movie was “clearly not suitable” for the entire flight.
“All screens were changed to a family friendly movie for the rest of the flight, which is our standard practice for the rare cases where individual movie selection isn’t possible,” it added.
The airline would also review the process by which the film was selected.