Propeller One-Way Night Coach
This nostalgic, hour-long Apple TV film follows eight-year-old Jeff and his glamorous mother on a cross-country TWA propeller flight during the golden age of aviation, based on John Travolta's semi-autobiographical 1997 children's book and directed by Travolta himself. The story is sweet and aviation-loving at its core, but a steady stream of adult themes woven throughout, including on-screen drinking and smoking, an implied overnight affair, frank talk of death and concentration camps, and a mild expletive, makes it a better fit for tweens and up rather than little kids.
Best suited for children 10 and older; younger kids who are passionate about planes can enjoy it alongside a parent ready to field some grown-up questions.
If you’d rather skip
Helen drinks cocktails and smokes cigarettes in nearly every adult scene; all passengers smoke freely on the plane, shown as glamorous and normal for the era.
A flight attendant tells Helen she survived the Holocaust while her parents perished; Jeff is not in the scene, but the exchange is candid.
Helen tells Jeff she is getting a nightcap, then spends the night with Harry, a married man; Jeff catches a glimpse of her giggling out of Harry's hotel room at 3 a.m.