The 30 Best Movies On Paramount Plus Right Now (March 2024)

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 February 27, 2024

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.

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.

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.

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.

Year: 2019

Starring: Adam Sandler

Genre: Drama/Thriller

Rating: R

Runtime: 135 minutes

Director: Josh and Benny Safdie

Trailer: Watch here

It’s Adam Sandler like you’ve never seen him. Wild-eyed and stressed to the max as a NYC-centered jeweler who arguably goes way too far in search of his next great score. “Arguably” might be too much because it’s such a pleasure to watch Sandler in this mode (even though you may end up gripping the remote control a bit too hard while vicariously enduring the pressure cooker. with a side of Julia Fox. He should have won that Oscar, man, not only because he deserved as much but because he should only be encouraged to go off the rails again.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Year: 2022

Starring: Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Rachel Sennott

Genre: Thriller

Rating: R

Runtime: 1 hour 34 minutes

Director: Halina Reijn

Trailer: Watch here

Both a fascinating case study of Gen Z ennui and a ridiculously fun murder mystery with a twist ending so obvious, it’s laughable, this flick starring Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, and Rachel Sennott takes an uncomfortable look at friendship set against the backdrop of a party game. When one of the group dies while waiting out a hurricane at their parent’s holiday house, the girls spiral, accusing each other, dredging up past wrongs, and hurling barbs in an effort to stay alive. Some do, most don’t, but the fun is in discovering why.

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.

Year: 2019

Starring: Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Rating: R

Runtime: 1 hour, 50 minutes

Director: Robert Eggers

Trailer: Watch here

Hollywood’s most iconic, reliable weirdos Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe unite in this equally weird psychological thriller about wickies (lighthouse keepers) who are driven mad on a job on a rocky island. The men drink, fart, laugh out loud, and fight, and as the days pass, the island with rocky beaches, which may or may not have supernatural elements, begins to get to them. There are seriously so many farts in this film.

Year: 2010

Starring: Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Rebecca Hall, Blake Lively, Jon Hamm

Genre: Crime, Thriiller

Rating: R

Runtime: 125 minutes

Director: Ben Affleck

Trailer: Watch here

After pulling back from acting, Ben Affleck began to cement himself as a serious director in the late aughts and early 2010s. In The Town, Affleck stars and directs this gritty crime drama that features another standout performance from Jeremy Renner, who was already riding high from his Oscar-nominated role in The Hurt Locker. (Seriously, Renner is a machine in this movie.) In the film, the two play lifelong friends with a knack for pulling off ruthless bank robberies. However, when Renner’s character, James, unexpectedly takes a hostage, their lives turn upside down as they reel from the fallout while still moving ahead with an even more dangerous heist.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

Year: 1988

Starring: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, Ricardo Montalban

Genre: Comedy

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 85 minutes

Director: David Zucker

Trailer: Watch here

The Naked Gun is a classic ’80s screwball comedy that brings the wild antics of the TV series Police Squad! to the big screen. Starring Leslie Nielsen as Lieutenant Frank Drebin, the film follows the highly questionable police detective as he bumbles his way through a criminal plot that involves the attempted murder of his fellow officer Nordberg played by, we kid you not, O.J. Simpson. Filled with memorable one-liners and Nielsen at the height of his game, The Naked Gun is a tight 85 minutes of laugh that routinely lands the film on Best Of comedy lists. It’s up there with Blazing Saddles, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Airplane, you name it.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.