Best Paramount Plus movies | TechRadar

Best Paramount Plus movies

If you're looking for the best movies to watch on Paramount Plus this month, you've come to the right place. From Elf to Interstellar, Mean Girls to Top Gun: Maverick, Paramount+ has all the hits from cinema classics to this year's biggest blockbusters.

Paramount Plus is fairly new compared to other streaming services: it launched in the US in 2021 and only arrived in the UK in summer 2022. But while it's younger than most it already has a huge selection of great TV shows, and the movie selection is really impressive too.

The streaming market is getting pretty crowded – Paramount Plus is competing with big names including Hulu, Netflix, HBO Max, and Prime Video – but Paramount is a TV and movie titan, and it has many exclusives that you won't find on any rival streamer.

Whether you're looking for iconic thrillers, hilarious comedies, action-packed dramas or something spooky, Paramount Plus has plenty of movies for you. But where should you start? We've put this guide together alongside our guide to the best Paramount Plus shows to help you find some of the best things to stream this month.

Top Gun: Maverick

(Image credit: Paramount Pictures)

It isn't available until December 22, but Tom Cruise's latest box office smash is exclusive to Paramount+ this Christmas. If you didn't catch it in theaters it's a must-watch, delivering all the flash, fast action and fun of the original without simply going over old ground. Many reviews say it's even better than the original Top Gun.

Tom Cruise is the titular Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a test pilot whose constant rule-breaking and boundary-pushing keeps his career firmly on the ground. But when he's given the job of training a new group of Top Gun graduates for a crucial new mission he has to face up to his past and some of his very worst fears.

Should you stream it? Let's put it this way: the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is 99%, and the critic score isn't far behind at a whopping 96%. This is the best kind of blockbuster, an absolute treat from start to nail-biting finish.

Top Gun

(Image credit: Paramount Pictures)

With Top Gun: Maverick coming to Paramount+ this month, it's a great time to revisit the original: you don't need to be familiar with the first movie to enjoy it, but if you are then you'll love it even more.

In 1986, the world saw Tom Cruise take on the role of Maverick, a young ambitious fighter pilot competing to be the very best of the US Navy’s Fighter Weapons School. But a deep rivalry with top student, Iceman (Val Kilmer), shows Maverick there are some tough lessons to learn when his cockiness and recklessness puts him in tough predicaments. Especially, to learn about being part of a team. 

Sonic the Hedgehog

(Image credit: Paramount Pictures)

A long time in the making, speedy blue gaming icon Sonic the Hedgehog finally received his transformation to the big screen in 2020. Paramount picked up the movie from Sony in 2017 after they’d held it in development since the 90s and it wasn’t without its split opinion when the movie was first revealed. 

But, it had a record breaking box office opening weekend for a video game movie bringing in over $319.7 million worldwide and unsurprisingly leading to Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in 2022. Some big names behind this little blue hedgehog with Ben Schwartz voicing him, Jim Carry as Dr. Robotnik, and James Marsden as town sheriff Tom Wachowski.  

Star Trek

(Image credit: Paramount Pictures)

Paramount Plus is the home of all things Star Trek from the original series to Discovery to Picard and, of course, the three modern Star Trek movies with a fourth reportedly in the works. 

Sci-fi directorial legend, J. J. Abrams led the new franchise with debut movie, Star Trek, telling the story of a young James Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) as they join the crew of the USS Enterprise to take down vengeful Romulan, Neo (Eric Bana). 

Mission: Impossible

(Image credit: Paramount Pictures )

Another iconic role for Tom Cruise saw him become Agent Ethan Hunt in the incredibly popular Mission: Impossible franchise. Mission: Impossible was the movie that started it all, and by all we mean the six feature-length movies already in existence with more on the way. 

Picking up where the TV series of the same name left, MI sees Agent Hunt fight to prove his innocence after a covert assignment goes wrong, framing him as a murderer. Hunt must sneak into the CIA to retrieve a file, but not without recruiting some help first. 

The Godfather Part II 

(Image credit: Google Play Filmer)

Whilst Part II is, of course, the sequel to the first, of which is also available to watch on Paramount Plus, the Godfather sequel gets its spot as one of the best movies on the streaming platform because director Francis Ford Coppola took the story one huge step further with boldness and drama to boot. Not forgetting the incredible acting from Robert De Niro as Vito Corleone and his son Michael (Al Pacino), this movie cuts between some time after the events of the Godfather and the early life of Vito and what made him the man he turned out to be. 

Interstellar

(Image credit: Amazon Prime)

Interstellar images a dystopian humanity where Earth is no longer habitable. In true sci-fi fashion, a group of research astronauts are forced into space to travel across the galaxy in a bid to find a new home for human beings before it’s too late. Director Christopher Nolan portrays emotion as he does best in a dark, bellowing abyss of isolation, fear, and failure. And with such a director behind it, it’s only right that you see a cast fit to take on a movie of such epic proportions and deeper meaning with Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, and Michael Caine just some of the names you’ll find telling this tale of humanity’s survival.   

SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run 

(Image credit: Paramount )

To lighten the mood, the next on our list is Paramount Plus Original and launch title, SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run. 

It’s very much a fun, lighthearted adventure that sees SpongeBob team up with his Bikini Bottom friends, including everyone’s favourite starfish, Patrick, to find his beloved pet snail, Gary, who has seemingly gone missing. Some amusing vocal appearances from big names like Keanu Reeves and Awkwafina make for some easy watching of this fan-favourite underwater sponge. 

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 

(Image credit: Paramount)

Director David Fincher is renowned for other movies he's made with Brad Pitt, hard-hitters like Fight Club and Se7en, but in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button he depicts a story that really is something truly unique. Here, Pitt takes the lead role as Benjamin Button, an elderly man who ages in reverse. 

After meeting Daisy (Cate Blanchett) the movie follows along as Daisy becomes older and Benjamin younger. Loosely based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the movie follows along for almost three hours as Benjamin struggles with acceptance of his rare condition with people assuming he should act the way he looks. 

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy 

(Image credit: Paramount)

San Diego’s top rated news anchor, Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), is truly a man like no other. This incredibly funny movie follows the life of Ron and his news team as they struggle to adapt when Veronica (Christina Applegate) mixes up the dynamic of a male-dominated workplace. 

Anchorman was Adam McKay’s directorial debut, going on to make Step Brothers, The Big Short, and Don’t Look Up. And if you’re yet to see Anchorman but enjoy his unique sense of humour, it’s a great place to start.

A Quiet Place

(Image credit: Paramount)

Next, we step into a thriller on Paramount Plus with John Krasinski’s directorial debut, A Quiet Place. Directed and briefly starring the man himself alongside his wife, Emily Blunt, A Quiet Place brings viewers into a post-apocalyptic world overrun by monsters who, whilst blind, are very much sensitive to noise. Ergo, to survive, you’ll need to keep as quiet as possible. 

Playing on-screen husband and wife, Lee, Evelyn and their two children must survive in a world where making a noise is the difference between life and death. The perfect recipe for jump scares, suspense, and doing an awful lot of holding your breath. 

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off 

(Image credit: Paramount Pictures)

In 1986, high school student Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) decided to take a day off by faking sickness and instead hanging out with his girlfriend and his best friend. A simple plot that served itself well fast becoming a cult teen comedy that amuses audiences to this very day, hence it’s spot on our best movies on Paramount Plus list. 

Director John Hughes was a legend of the 80s teen movie scene creating fan favourites, The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles alongside this one.  

Gladiator

(Image credit: Amazon Prime)

Are you not entertained?! Well, you should be with 2000’s Gladiator starring Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. It’s hard to believe this movie is over two decades old when its impact on historical drama movie scene was palpable. Ridley Scott in the directorial chair behind this multi-award winning movie following former Roman General, Maximus (Russell Crowe), as he seeks vengeance for his family against corrupt Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix),   

Mean Girls

(Image credit: Sony)

The teen flick with more memorable quotes than we can keep up with, Mean Girls is a classic coming-of-age story about Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) who joins a public school after years of homeschooling in Africa and quickly learns the social politics of teen cliques - coming out on top or bottom. 

Written and starring comedian Tina Fey, as well as Rachel McAdams as Queen bee, Regina George, and Amy Poehler - it’s a strong comedic cast of females that propels this … onto our list of the best movies on Paramount Plus. 

Rosemary's Baby

(Image credit: Paramount)

In the late 1960s, a psychological thriller adapted from the novel of the same name by Ira Levin, took the movie world by storm. Directed by Roman Polanski and starring Mia Farrow in the lead role as Rosemary Woodhouse, a young pregnant wife in Manhattan who suspects her elderly neighbours of being part of a cult set on using her unborn baby in their satanic rituals.  

Saving Private Ryan

(Image credit: Paramount Pictures)

Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) leads a band of WWII soldiers behind enemy lines to find missing paratrooper, Private James Ryan (Matt Damon). Oscar award-winning director, Steven Spielberg, has been continually praised for his portrayal of war, his epic action scenes, and detailed depiction of the assault on Omaha Beach during the Normandy Landings. 

Saving Private Ryan is much more than the graphic action of war though as each US Army soldier embarks on their own personal, deep journey of discovery set to the backdrop of devastation. 

Once Upon a Time in the West  

(Image credit: Paramount)

This spaghetti western of the late 1960s from Sergio Leone is a genre in and of itself with Leone’s extreme close-ups and lengthy long shots a staple of his directorial prowess. 

Telling the tale of a widow, Jill McBain (Claudia Cardinale), who enlists the help of outlaw, Frank (Henry Fonda) and a man dubbed ‘Harmonica’ (Charles Bronson) to protect her land, Once Upon a Time in the West is an iconic western that lives on Paramount Plus. And a pretty long epic for its time coming in at almost three hours long.  

To Catch a Thief

(Image credit: Paramount)

Heading further back in time, we look at 1950s mystery romance, To Catch a Thief. With Alfred Hitchcock as director and Cary Grant and Grace Kelly in the leading roles, it’s no surprise that this movie makes it onto our best on Paramount Plus list. Cary plays reformed thief, John Robie, who must prove his innocence when tied to a recent robbery that was nothing to do with him. 

He’s a retired cat burglar hoping to live the quiet life in the French Riviera, but where there’s a cat there’s a copycat as someone continues to rob in his signature style. It’s a whodunnit with great twists and turns.  

Annihilation

(Image credit: Netflix)

Based on the novel of the same name by Jeff VanderMeer, Annihilation follows a group of explorers who enter ‘The Shimmer’, a quarantined zone with a lot to hide. Lena (Natalie Portman) leads the dangerous expedition to discover the truth about what happened to her husband there and uncover the sinister secrets hidden in this mysterious zone of mutated creatures and changing landscapes. 

Ex-Machina director, Alex Garland, creates another excellent sci-fi thriller that has viewers making their own minds up on what’s truly going on. 

Forrest Gump

(Image credit: Amazon Prime Video)

Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get. Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) finds himself on a bus stop bench retelling the story of his life up to that point to any passer-by that cares to hear it. Forrest has found himself in extraordinary circumstances spanning many historical events across America. Whilst he may be slow-witted, he has a heart of gold, and one that navigates him through life by following the love of his life and childhood sweetheart, Jenny. 

With a best picture Oscar win under its belt, it’s no surprise that his tale of incredible emotion continues to be a stalwart choice for a movie on the must-watch list.

Scream

(Image credit: Paramount Pictures)

Iconic slasher flick, Scream, is a cult movie for anyone looking to be scared and to laugh at the same time. A star-studded cast including Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Drew Barrymore, and Matthew Lillard play a group of high school friends who have become the target of a mysterious killer dressed in a Halloween costume with a now-iconic Ghostface mask and black cloak. 

25 years after a string of similarly brutal murders occurred in their town, the killer is seemingly back again… and again, and again as the Scream franchise also spawned a bunch of sequels. 

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