MH370: The Plane That Disappeared

What’s it about?

The latest Netflix docuseries attempts to uncover what really happened on March 8, 2014 and how a Boeing 777 plane could just vanish into thin air. Along with the plane, 239 passengers and crew to this day have not been found, which has fuelled conspiracy theories and challenged experts across the globe.

The facts

• Directed by Louise Malkinson (The Gift of Life, The Detectives: Murder on the Streets)
• English language
• Runtime: 158 minutes
• This is a true story about the 2014 disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

Why did it get this rating?

This series was self-rated by Netflix. You can find out more about self-rating by streaming providers here.

Offensive language

Offensive language such as “f**k” is used but not very often. Real footage of the families of the missing passengers and crew show them in very emotional states. Their verbal and physical outbursts might be sad or slightly startling to watch but make sense in context.

Suicide themes

One of the theories of what happened to the plane focuses on the captain. Some groups think that he orchestrated a mass suicide and flew the plane into the southern Indian Ocean. Other than that the series does not go into his mental state leading up to the event. It is said that his house was investigated, and two years later the FBI realised that he flew a similar path on a flight simulator a month or so prior to MH370.

The focus on suicide in this series is less about mental health and the impact of suicide and more about the facts, opinions and theories of what happened. While most won’t find this confronting some viewers with strong sensitivities to series and films with mental health themes could.

Further information

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?
• Do you feel like you need to have a strong opinion about what 'actually' happened to MH370?
• What we know, and still don’t know, about the missing MH370 plane – The Washington Post
• MH370 theories revealed in Netflix documentary about missing Malaysian Airlines plane – NZ Herald
• Talking with young people about what they’re watching