Okay, the secret is out: Paramount+ has one of the best libraries of film out of all the many streaming services, making it easier than ever to have more options on what to watch.
No matter the circumstances or mood, you’re guaranteed to find something decent, maybe even a few masterpieces, because some of the best movies are on Paramount Plus. It boasts a catalog including Paramount films, A24 films, and more. So, here’s our selection of the best movies on Paramount Plus right now:
Last updated on March 29th, 2024
1. Top Gun/Top Gun: Maverick
Year: 1986, 2022
Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Miles Teller, Glenn Powell
Genre: Action
Rating: PG, PG-13
Runtime: 1 hour 50 minutes, 2 hours 11 minutes
Director: Joseph Kosinski, Tony Scott
Trailer: Watch here
It is not at all hyperbolic to say that Top Gun and (especially) its box office hit sequel Top Gun: Maverick are cinematic miracles. Even if you’re not into planes or military propaganda or both, both films — the sequel being the stronger of the two — are significant to their respective years’, and respective decades’ pop culture. The original film embodies the ’80s in its songs, costumes and overall cheese and broke new ground for what action movies could do and be. The film also cemented Tom Cruise, who reprised his role as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, as an action star who could take the leading role in any kind of movie with ease and unprecedented physical commitment. For Top Gun: Maverick, Cruise made sure it could not be done without the proper technology, training, and cast: the actors in the film playing pilots, even those in supporting roles, went through flight training to prepare. The film was a box office hit and it also marked the first truly significant theatrical release since the pandemic, bringing many people back to the cinemas for a good, fun time after a long, sad break.
2. No Country For Old Men
Year: 2007
Starring: Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Woody Harrelson
Genre: Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 122 minutes
Director: Joel and Ethan Coen
Trailer: Watch here
In No Country for Old Men, Josh Brolin stars as Llewelyn Moss, a down-on-his-luck welder who stumbles across the aftermath of a drug deal gone bad in a Texas desert. After finding a massive sum of cash that he’s determined to keep for his family, Llewelyn locks himself into a collision course with the unrelenting mob enforcer Anton Chigurh played with award-winning intensity by Javier Bardem. Meanwhile, a Texas lawman (Tommy Lee Jones) follows their path of destruction as he questions what has become of the world.
3. There Will Be Blood
Year: 2007
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano
Genre: Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 158 minutes
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Trailer: Watch here
One can only imagine how difficult it was for notorious method actor Daniel Day-Lewis to take this character home every night. He portrays a hard-hustling miner, Daniel Plainview, who falls into great fortune during the oil boom and then into great villain mode in the aftermath. Paul Dano portrays identical twins, and as with many Paul Dano roles, you’ll likely want to punch him before the movie is over. Yet there are profound truths to be found while watching Plainview lose his humanity and push harder and faster for power before he eventually drinks that milkshake up. It’s a quirky prestige movie in a sense, but it was an instant classic.
4. A Quiet Place
Year: 2018
Starring: John Krasinski, Emily Blunt
Genre: Horror
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hour 30 minutes
Director: John Krasinski
Trailer: Watch here
Who could have possibly predicted that Jim Halpert from The Office would direct and launch a modern horror franchise? John Krasinski stars in and directed A Quiet Place, co-starring his wife, Emily Blunt. Creatures who are blind but have incredibly sharp hearing have taken over Earth, leaving few survivors. The film follows a family living in upstate New York, who have survived by speaking in American sign language. When they accidentally make noise that draws the creatures to them, things go awry. A sequel came out in 2020, and Lupita Nyong’o will star in a spin-off film, A Quiet Place: Day One.
5. Pearl
Year: 2022
Starring: Mia Goth, David Corenswet
Genre: Horror
Rating: R
Runtime: 103 minutes
Director: Ti West
Trailer: Watch here
The second installment in Ti West’s horror trilogy, this thriller gives us a villain origin story for the ages. Mia Goth plays Pearl, a psychotic young woman longing to escape her family’s farm as her husband fights in the war. She dreams of being an actress and takes drastic steps to make that happen. But as her body count grows and her prospects dry up, Pearl experiences a world-shattering epiphany that sets future film events into motion.
6. Titanic
Year: 1997
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet
Genre: Drama
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 194 minutes
Director: James Cameron
Trailer: Watch here
In this cinema classic that turned Leonardo DiCaprio into a heartthrob for the ages, Titanic delivers an epic disaster film that cemented director James Cameron as one of the masters of visual effects a full decade before he took audiences to the world of Pandora in Avatar. In this mammoth movie with a runtime that’s almost as big as the ship of the same name, DiCaprio stars as Jack, a young stowaway who finds love with Kate Winslet’s Rose aboard the ill-fated vessel. (Spoiler Alert: The boat sinks.) Merging blockbuster action and one of the most beloved romances ever put to film, Titanic is a modern masterpiece. Just make sure your schedule is free. Maybe clear the whole day.
7. Saving Private Ryan
Year: 1998
Starring: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore
Genre: Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 169 minutes
Director: Steven Spielberg
Trailer: Watch here
Steven Spielberg directs this gripping World War II drama that follows a platoon of soldiers led by Capt. John Miller (Tom Hanks) as they storm Omaha Beach in one of the most visceral and realistic depictions of D-Day ever set to film. After surviving the historic invasion, the men are tasked with an equally daunting mission: Bring home Private James Ryan (Matt Damon) after all three of his brothers were killed in battle in the same week. The journey will lead the rag-tag platoon into the path of German forces and eventually lock them into a deadly skirmish that will test their resolve as not just soldiers, but men.
8. Shutter Island
Year: 2010
Starring: Leonard DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Michelle Williams
Genre: Horror
Rating: R
Runtime: 2 hours 18 minutes
Director: Martin Scorsese
Trailer: Watch here
DiCaprio and Scorsese team up for a dramatic thriller that feels different from their normal fare but still just as intense. DiCaprio plays a detective drawn to a mysterious island that houses a psychiatric facility for the criminally insane. He’s investigating the case of an escaped convict, but a conveniently timed storm, a hostile staff, and some strange happenings lead him down a rather dark and dangerous rabbit hole. There’s a twist ending here worthy of its build-up, and DiCaprio shares the screen with some notable talents including Mark Ruffalo, Michelle Williams, Sir Ben Kingsley, and Emily Mortimer.
9. Arrival
Year: 2016
Starring: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forrest Whitaker
Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hour 56 minutes
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Trailer: Watch here
A methodic, thoughtful approach to an alien invasion story, Arrival follows linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) as she struggles to figure out a way to communicate with two creatures that have inexplicably shown up in Montana. While Louise tries to buy more time in understanding the visitors, she butts heads with the military side of the operation who keep pressuring her for quick answers.
10. Jackass Forever
Year: 2022
Starring: Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Dave England, Wee Man
Genre: Reality, Comedy
Rating: R
Runtime: 1 hour 26 minutes
Director: Jeff Tremaine
Trailer: Watch here
The original cast of Jackass unites for the first time in over a decade (with newcomer Rachel Wolfson joining) in another entry into the most important franchise of the 21st century. Although the Jackass cast is grappling with aging (they can’t exactly perform the same ridiculous stunts they could 20 years ago), there are still plenty of gross, unbelievable things, most of which have to do with their penises.
11. Interstellar
Year: 2014
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain
Genre: Sci-fi, Drama
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2 hours 49 minutes
Director: Christopher Nolan
Trailer: Watch here
Christopher Nolan’s space epic has an epic runtime and might not make any sense, but it looks good. In the near future, Earth is becoming increasingly inhabitable, with a global crop blight and a second Dust Bowl. A team of researchers is sent to space to enter a wormhole and explore three different planets in a different galaxy to discover which one is habitable. Matthew McConaughey delivers the most intimate performance of his career as a NASA pilot turned farmer who goes on the mission. The movie will leave you confused and wondering how time works, but that was probably Nolan’s intention.
12. School of Rock
Year: 2003
Starring: Jack Black, Joan Cusack
Genre: Comedy
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hour, 49 minutes
Director: Richard Linklater
Trailer: Watch here
Jack Black has always harbored leading man potential and he proves it in this comedy that’s on so many “best of” lists for a reason. School of Rock feels like one of those movies you won’t turn off or flip the channel from were it to pop up on network TV, which really is the highest of compliments. It’s the kind of film that, despite years of not watching it, you feel compelled to sit down and take it all in again when the opportunity strikes. Most of that is because of Black, whose undeniable charisma is wielded in full force when he catfishes an educational institution, posing as a substitute teacher and turning his class of pre-teen misfits into the greatest rock band he’s ever performed with. It’s over-the-top and ridiculous, but Black never lets the comedy take away from the heartwarming story at its center.
13. Beavis And Butt-Head Do The Universe
Year: 2022
Starring: Mike Judge, Andrea Savage, Jimmy O. Yang
Genre: Comedy, Animation
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 1 hour, 26 minutes
Director: John Rice and Albert Calleros
Trailer: Watch here
Beavis and Butt-Head are back and possibly dumber than ever. In Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe, the friends who want nothing more than to lose their virginity inadvertently become astronauts which leads them to time travel from 1998 to 2022, where they meet intelligent versions of themselves.
14. Scream (2022)
Year: 2022
Starring: Jenna Ortega, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Jack Quaid
Genre: Horror
Rating: R
Runtime: 114 minutes
Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Trailer: Watch here
In this fifth installment of the classic Scream franchise, Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox return as Sidney Prescott and Gale Weathers. The two are haunted by the events of the original film as a new Ghostface killer emerges once again in Woodsboro and leaves another trail of teenage bodies in their wake. But what seems like random murders, soon becomes a twisted journey into the deadly past of the sleepy town where it all began. Who’s wielding the knife this time and will Sidney and Gale’s luck finally run out as they’re pulled into another bloodbath?
15. Cloverfield
Year: 2008
Starring: Mike Vogel, Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas
Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 85 minutes
Director: Matt Reeves
Trailer: Watch here
Disappointing sequels aside, the original installment in J.J. Abrams’ Cloverfield trilogy remains one of the greatest works of found footage in the history of film. Most of that is because the narrative style lends itself to the tension, chaos, and horror of fleeing a monster destroying New York City. The film follows a group of friends caught in the bedlam after a Godzilla-like creature begins attacking the Big Apple. While trying to save each other and make it out of the city before the bombs drop, the friends document their journey. The directing by Matt Reeves is superb, almost too good, because you often feel a part fo the action, for better and worse
16. Bumblebee
Year: 2018
Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, Dylan O’Brien, John Cena
Genre: Action
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 113 minutes
Director: Travis Knight
Trailer: Watch here
In Bumblebee, a soft reboot of the Transformers franchise set in the 1980s, Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld) finds the damaged Autobot hiding out in a junkyard in her sleepy beach town. The two form a touching friendship that’s threatened by the dogged pursuit of the U.S. military led by Agent Burns (John Cena) and the encroaching Decepticon forces. Following the Bay films, Transformers fans immediately took to Bumblebee thanks to the movie sticking more closely to the robots original designs that made them a staple of childhoods everywhere. Plus, Steinfeld is just a joy to watch, and she gives Bumblebee a surprising amount of heart.
17. Gladiator
Year: 2000
Starring: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix
Genre: Action, Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 2 hours, 35 minutes
Director: Ridley Scott
Trailer: Watch here
Russel Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix star in this Ridley Scott epic that nabbed quite a few Oscars in its day. Crowe plays Maximus, a former Roman General who is betrayed by his Emperor (Phoenix) and forced into slavery. He returns years later, seeking revenge for the death of his family while fighting as a gladiator, gaining the public’s love and putting his plan to take down the Empire into motion.
18. Past Lives
Year: 2023
Starring: Greta Lee, Te Yoo, John Magaro
Genre: Drama
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 105 minutes
Director: Celine Song
Trailer: Watch here
A story about love, time, and geographical barriers, Celine Song’s bittersweet drama focuses on two childhood friends, separated by circumstance, who reunite years later only to realize this life is not theirs to share. Greta Lee gives a star-making performance as Nora, a married New Yorker who connects with her South Korean friend, Hae Sung, and begins to question her life choices. If you’re in need of a good cry, turn this one on.
19. Mission: Impossible — Fallout
Year: 2018
Starring: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Simon Pegg
Genre: Action, Thriller
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2 hours, 28 minutes
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Trailer: Watch here
Tom Cruise returns as the at this point superhuman Ethan Hunt for yet another impossible mission (the sixth film in the Mission: Impossible series). Cruise performs even more impressive life-threatening stunts in Mission: Impossible Fallout, including but certainly not limited to a helicopter chase. It’s long, but every minute is truly more thrilling than the next. Henry Cavill assimilated as well into a villain role — the role that required him to have the infamous mustache that was questionably edited out of his scenes in Justice League.
20. Selma
Year: 2014
Starring: David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Oprah Winfrey
Genre: Drama, Biopic
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2 hours 8 minutes
Director: Ava DuVernay
Trailer: Watch here
Director Ava DuVernay does justice to the incredible story of Martin Luther King Jr.’s campaign to secure equal voting rights for African Americans in the South with this emotionally charged drama and focuses on a specific time in the civil rights leader’s life. Oyelowow transforms himself into the gifted public speaker here, doling out rousing sermons and fiery rants against injustice in equal measure, but DuVernay has him share the spotlight with the Black women who helped foster his greatness — showing the toll on his personal life and adding weight to the mythology of the man.
21. Mean Girls
Year: 2004
Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, Lizzie Caplan
Genre: Comedy
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hour 37 minutes
Director: Mark Waters
Trailer: Watch here
Few teen comedies do justice to the nightmarish journey of navigating high school as a teenage girl but this Tina Fey-scripted coming-of-age story is in a league of its own. Lindsay Lohan plays Cady, the new girl at school who learns the lay of the land quickly, embedding herself in a clique of popular girls called The Plastics led by a vicious Queen Bee named Regina George (an excellent Rachel McAdams). As Cady tries to take down The Plastics from the inside, she slowly morphs into one of them, assuming control of the group and losing her sense of self — and her few real friends — along the way. Come for the cliched high school tropes done right, stay for Amy Poehler playing a “cool mom.”
22. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Year: 2023
Starring: Nicolas Cantu, Micah Abbey, Brady Noon, Shamon Brown Jr., Ayo Edebiri, Jackie Chan, Ice T
Genre: Action, Comedy
Rating: PG
Runtime: 100 minutes
Director: Jeff Rowe
Trailer: Watch here
It’s impossible to avoid this comparison, so here goes: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem gives the heroes in a half-shell the Spider-Verse treatment in this animated film packed with super cool comic book-inspired visuals and a whole lot of teenage heart. Produced by Seth Rogen, Mutant Mayhem set out to capture what made the Ninja Turtles concept so great and nailed it. Look for a killers row of voice talent with Jackie Chan, Ice T, and Paul Rudd as notable standouts.
23. Collateral
Year: 2004
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx
Genre: Action
Rating: R
Runtime: 119 minutes
Director: Michael Mann
Trailer: Watch here
In this taut action thriller from iconic director Michael Mann, Tom Cruise stars as Vincent, a ruthless hitman who ropes Jamie Foxx‘s unsuspecting taxi driver, Max, into a mission to complete five hits in one deadly night. As the two bounce across Los Angeles, Max quickly becomes aware of his passenger’s occupation, and Vincent isn’t exactly shy about his activities. In fact, Vincent spends most of the evening calmly defending his work to an increasingly terrified Max who is starting to realize he’s not going to survive this fare.
24. Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts
Year: 2023
Starring: Anthony Ramos, Liza Koshy, Ron Perlman, Pete Davidson
Genre: Action-Adventure
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 127 minutes
Director: Stephen Caple Jr
Trailer: Watch here
Have you ever watched a movie and thought, “hey, this would be better if a robot voiced by Pete Davidson appeared!” You’re not alone, because that’s what the makers of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts thought, so they did it! The latest installment brings out the Maximals (think Transformers + Animals) to life, and yes, there is a female Transformer now! This is the future Barbie wanted. The Autobots are threatened by a new species, they must team up with the Maximals to save each other and the humans. And Pete Davidson.
25. The Crow
Year: 1994
Starring: Brandon Lee, Michael Wincott, Ernie Hudson
Genre: Drama, Action
Rating: R
Runtime: 101 minutes
Director: Alex Proyas
Trailer: Watch here
In this classic film that infamously led to the death of its star Brandon Lee, The Crow delivers a brooding take on the graphic novel of the same name as Lee delivers an iconic performance as Eric Draven, a musician who comes back to life to avenge his own death as well as his fiancée. Filled with gothic imagery and an unforgettable soundtrack, The Crow is a slice of pure ’90s grunge and a sterling example that comic book adaptations don’t need to be CGI extravaganzas to blow audience’s minds.
26. Red Eye
Year: 2005
Starring: Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy
Genre: Thriller
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 85 minutes
Director: Wes Craven
Trailer: Watch here
What begins as a rom-com, complete with a meet-cute that feels designed by fate, quickly morphs into an agonizing hostage situation in which Cillian Murphy terrorizes poor Rachel McAdams within an inch of her sanity. Equal parts charm and menace, Murphy’s Jackson Rippner (subtle this film is not) has murderous designs that hinge on the help of McAdams’ hotel manager, Lisa. The two try to outsmart each other at every turn in a heart-pumping cat-and-mouse game filled with just enough chemistry to cause you to question whether you can have Stockholm Syndrome for a fictional character.
27. Primal Fear
Year: 1996
Starring: Edward Norton, Richard Gere
Genre: Drama, Crime
Rating: R
Runtime: 2 hour 9 minutes
Director: Gregory Hoblit
Trailer: Watch here
Richard Gere and Edward Norton give fantastic performances in this thrilling crime drama that always takes the storytelling path less chosen. Gere plays Martin Vail, a competent attorney who takes on a case involving the murder of a priest by an altar boy (Norton). Both men distrust each other, but work together to uncover buried secrets around the Catholic Church’s misdeeds. It’s not the easiest of watches, but it’s a damn good one.
28. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Year: 1986
Starring: Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara, Alan Ruck
Genre: Comedy
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 102 minutes
Director: John Hughes
Trailer: Watch here
In Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Matthew Broderick stars in this classic John Hughes comedy about a teen ne’er-do-well who decides to skip school for one epic day off. With his girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara) and Cameron (Alan Ruck) along the ride, the trio “borrow” a very expensive sports car and head out to nearby Chicago for a wild day of baseball and singing in the streets before getting home in time to thwart the vengeful Principal Rooney (Jeffrey Jones) in this iconic ’80s staple.
29. Almost Famous
Year: 2000
Starring: Billy Crudup, Kate Hudson, Frances McDormand
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 2 hours, 2 minutes
Director: Cameron Crowe
Trailer: Watch here
Cameron Crowe’s beloved, ’70s-set journalism movie follows a teenage music fan, who is assigned to follow the fictional band Stillwater on tour for a profile in the magazine. Along the way, he falls in love with groupie Penny Lane — played by Kate Hudson, who received an Oscar nomination in the best supporting actress category along with co-star Frances McDormand — and learns about life, ethical journalism, and the reality of being in a rock and roll band. Crowe’s semi-autobiographical screenplay (he, too, wrote for Rolling Stone as a teen) won the Oscar for best original screenplay.
TIE: 30. The Wolf of Wall Street
Year: 2013
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 3 hours
Director: Martin Scorsese
Trailer: Watch here
It’s the performance that should have made Leonardo DiCaprio the should have Oscar Award-winning actor he is today. After a series of dramatic collaborations in the aughts including The Aviator, Gangs of New York, and Shutter Island, Scorsese and DiCaprio loosen up a little in the strongest entry to their little series. DiCaprio, who often chooses extremely serious, emotionally demanding roles, applies his signature intensity to a more comedic role in a comedic film with Scorsese’s signature energizing style. In his performance as the disgraced Jordan Belfort, DiCaprio proves he has more range than anyone thought, and the presence of co-star Jonah Hill undoubtedly helped him get there. The Wolf of Wall Street also introduced the world to Margot Robbie, one of the best actors working today and now, a two-time Oscar nominee. DiCaprio and Scorsese reunite ten years later and for the first time since this film in 2023’s Killers of the Flower Moon.
TIE: 30. Minority Report
Year: 2002
Starring: Tom Cruise, Samantha Morton, Colin Farrell, Max von Sydow
Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 145 minutes
Director: Steven Spielberg
Trailer: Watch here
In this sci-fi thriller based on the Philip K. Dick novella, director Steven Spielberg directs none other than Tom Cruise in this futuristic noir tale. As the head of the pre-crime unit, John Anderton (Cruise) stops murders before they’re committed thanks to the pre-cogs, a psychic trio who can see the future. Things go awry when John’s name comes up as a potential murder, forcing him to go on the run (Tom Cruise’s favorite thing) as he confronts his past and the very technology that’s become his whole life.
