Action epics, Oscar-winning dramas, and irresistable comedies make up the streamer’s offerings.

The 18 best movies on Paramount+, from Oscar winners to Tom Cruise blockbusters

Action epics, Oscar-winning dramas, and irresistable comedies make up the streamer's offerings.

By Kevin Jacobsen

and Declan Gallagher

April 26, 2026 6:00 p.m. ET

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Colin Farrell as Pádraic Súilleabháin in 'The Banshees of Inisherin'; Pamela Anderson as Beth Davenport in 'The Naked Gun'; Tom Cruise as Capt. Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell in 'Top Gun: Maverick'. Credit:

Jonathan Hession/Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures; Frank Masi/Paramount Pictures; Paramount Pictures

Ever since rebranding from CBS All Access to Paramount+, the streamer has steadily been on the rise. With a huge range of shows produced by CBS and various cable channels like Nickelodeon and MTV, TV lovers have more than their share. But the service also includes a diverse selection of movies across all genres.

Some of the more notable offerings on Paramount+ include classic Best Picture winners like *The Godfather* (1972), a pulse-quickening array of Tom Cruise films like the *Mission: Impossible* series, and recent gut-busters like *The Naked Gun* (2025).

If you're not sure where to start, read on for our guide to the 18 best movies streaming now on Paramount+.

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

Colin Farrell as Pádraic Súilleabháin and Barry Keoghan as Dominic Kearney in 'The Banshees of Inisherin'.

Jonathan Hession/Searchlight Pictures/20th Century Studios

Martin McDonagh's jet-black comedy about grief and depression stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as former best friends who begin a bloody war of passive aggression against the backdrop of the Irish Civil War. All of McDonagh's films stand out, but *Banshees* shows a deeper, less blustery side of the filmmaker that suits him quite well.

As EW's critic observes, the film "feels like his most humane and deeply felt offering to date — which says a lot about a movie rife with blasphemy, self-mutilation, and miniature donkeys." —*Declan Gallagher*

**EW grade:** A–

**Director:** Martin McDonagh

**Cast:** Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan**

Chicago (2002)

Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly and Renée Zellweger as Roxie Hart in 'Chicago'. Miramax/Everett

Rob Marshall's adaptation of the Broadway musical is a dazzling slice of put-on-a-show entertainment.

It all kicks off when aspiring vaudevillian Roxie Hart (Renée Zellweger) is convicted of shooting and killing a man with whom she was having an affair. In prison, she meets (and tries to befriend) her idol, Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones), and hires unscrupulous lawyer Billy Flynn (Richard Gere) to shape the narrative of her case in her favor.

Featuring electrifying musical sequences and go-for-broke performances, *Chicago* was a hit with critics and audiences, winning six Oscars, including Best Picture. —*Kevin Jacobsen*

**Director:** Rob Marshall

**Cast:** Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, John C. Reilly, Queen Latifah

Fatal Attraction (1987)

Glenn Close as Alex Forrest and Michael Douglas as Dan Gallagher in 'Fatal Attraction'.

Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

As the unstable Alex Forrest, Glenn Close became one of the all-time great movie antagonists with this iconic erotic thriller. When Alex meets Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) at a business function, there is a charge between them that blossoms into a passionate affair. The problem is, Dan is married and has a kid, and after he coldly tries to end the affair, Alex retaliates with a series of increasingly dangerous actions.

What sets *Fatal Attraction* above the many erotic thrillers released in the '80s and '90s is how Close brings humanity to Alex, with an undercurrent of loneliness that prevents her from becoming a two-dimensional villain. —*K.J.*

**Director:** Adrian Lyne

**Cast:** Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, Anne Archer

The First Wives Club (1995)

Bette Midler as Brenda Morelli-Cushman, Goldie Hawn as Elise Eliot-Atchison, and Diane Keaton as Annie MacDuggan-Paradis in 'The First Wives Club'.

A murderer's row of acting talent — Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn, and Bette Midler — team up to exact revenge on their ex-husbands who have "upgraded" to younger models. A revenge–cum–wish fulfillment fantasy, Hugh Wilson's breezy friend-com is both pleasantly spiky and reassuringly warm.

"As long as Hawn and her cronies are skewering male insensitivity with that sort of filed-talon wit," EW's critic quips, "*The First Wives Club* whisks us along." —*D.G.*

**Director:** Hugh Wilson

**Cast:** Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton

Gladiator (2000)

Russell Crowe as Maximus Decimus Meridius in 'Gladiator'.

Universal/Getty

Ridley Scott's brutal, visceral epic stars Russell Crowe as fallen general Maximus, who becomes a gladiator and undertakes a campaign of revenge against those who wronged him.

*Gladiator*, which was compared favorably to the ”sword-and-sandal movies” of the 1950s and '60s, earned rave reviews and multiple Oscars, including Best Picture. *—D.G.*

**EW grade: **A–

**Director:** Ridley Scott

**Cast:** Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Richard Harris

Gladiator II (2024)

Paul Mescal as Hanno and Pedro Pascal as General Acacius in 'Gladiator II'.

The time has come, 24 years later, to be entertained again.

Ridley Scott's long-in-development sequel to his Best Picture winner features a mostly new cast of characters, with Paul Mescal starring as Hanno, a prisoner of war who shows great promise as a gladiator and fights on behalf of the scheming Macrinus (Denzel Washington). Hanno soon discovers his true identity and a battle for the fate of Rome escalates further.

EW's critic calls *Gladiator II* "the epitome of an epic, its towering sets, opulent costumes, and bustling crowd scenes bringing Ancient Rome to life in all its excess." —*K.J.*

**EW grade:** A

**Director:** Ridley Scott

**Cast:** Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn

The Godfather (1972)

Salvatore Corsitto as Amerigo Bonasera and Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone in 'The Godfather'.

Paramount Pictures

A film that hardly needs introduction, *The Godfather* is one of the seminal classics of cinematic history, launching a three-part saga about family, legacy, and the American dream.

It follows the powerful Corleone family, from aging mob boss Vito (Marlon Brando) to the son looking to succeed him, Michael (Al Pacino). After an assassination attempt against his father, Michael seeks to prove his worth and plots revenge against those who ordered the hit.

Sweeping and absorbing even all these years later, *The Godfather* is a Shakespearean epic for modern times, rightfully earning the Oscar for Best Picture and inspiring filmmakers for generations to come. —*K.J.*

**Director:** Francis Ford Coppola

**Cast:** Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton

Mean Girls (2004)

Lindsay Lohan as Cady Heron, Amanda Seyfried as Karen Smith, Rachel McAdams as Regina George, and Lacey Chabert as Gretchen Wieners in 'Mean Girls'.

New girl Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) gets inducted into a group of queen bees headed by the ruthless Regina George (Rachel McAdams) as cliques clash in this forever-quotable high school flick.

There's a 2024 musical update, but the 2004 version of *Mean Girls* has only gotten funnier with age, being both laugh-out-loud entertaining and a thoughtful exploration of teenage behavior.

As EW's critic wrote in 2004, "The movie — a vinegary fable with a Splenda aftertaste — is a harbinger of hope not only for future feminist comedies of any grit but also for *SNL*-staffed feature films that don't disproportionately suck." *—D.G.*

**Director: **Mark Waters

**Cast:** Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, Lacey Chabert

Mission: Impossible — Fallout (2018)

Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn, Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust, Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, and Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell in 'Mission: Impossible — Fallout'.

David James/Paramount

Every *Mission: Impossible* movie is available to stream on Paramount+, but this sixth entry in the film franchise is arguably the best one.

*Fallout* centers on IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) in his quest to stop an expected nuclear attack from a terrorist group. He and his team are joined by CIA assassin August Walker (Henry Cavill) to recover plutonium cores on a mission that proves decidedly more difficult than Hunt could ever imagine.

Packed with dazzling set pieces and genuinely shocking twists, EW's critic praises the film as "the kind of pure, straight-no-chaser pop fun that not only keeps taking your breath away over and over again, it restores your occasionally shaky faith in summer blockbusters." —*K.J.*

**EW grade:** A

**Director:** Christopher McQuarrie

**Cast:** Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson

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The Naked Gun (2025)

Pamela Anderson as Beth Davenport and Liam Neeson as Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. in 'The Naked Gun'.

Frank Masi/Paramount

We highly recommend taking a chair (no, not literally) and watching Liam Neeson in his silliest role to date. The action star lends his tough-guy persona to this hilarious legacy sequel to the classic spoof series of films from the '80s and '90s, playing Lt. Frank Drebin Jr., a hapless police officer who investigates a stolen gismo known as the P.L.O.T. Device (get it?).

Enter the glamorous novelist, Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson), who hopes to seek justice for her murdered brother and teams up with Frank to take down the man she deems responsible.

For those missing the laugh-a-minute comedies of yesteryear, *The Naked Gun* is an endearingly goofy oasis in the desert. —*K.J.*

**Director:** Akiva Schaffer

**Cast:** Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Kevin Durand, Danny Huston

A Quiet Place (2018)

John Krasinski as Lee Abbott, Emily Blunt as Evelyn Abbott, and Millicent Simmonds as Regan Abbott in 'A Quiet Place'. Jonny Cournoyer/Paramount Pictures

*A Quiet Place* became an instant horror favorite upon its 2018 release. Predatory alien creatures with hypersensitive hearing have overrun Earth, and any sound can be a death sentence for humans.

John Krasinski does triple duty as director, co-writer, and star, playing a man living in this postapocalyptic world with his family, who are trying to survive and find a way to fight back. The gripping tension inherent in its premise would be enough to cause anxiety in viewers, but Krasinski proves adept at deploying maximum terror when you're least expecting it.

As EW's critic writes, "When *A Quiet Place* has one finger on the panic button and the other on mute, it’s a nervy, terrifying thrill." —*K.J.*

**EW grade:** B+

**Director:** John Krasinski

**Cast:** Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe

A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)

Joseph Quinn as Eric and Lupita Nyong'o as Sam in 'A Quiet Place: Day One'.

Gareth Gatrell/Paramount Pictures

The third film in the *Quiet Place* franchise intriguingly rewinds to the first day of the invasion that would ultimately cause an apocalypse. We also transport to the concrete jungle of New York, where we meet a terminally ill woman named Samira (Lupita Nyong'o) as she desperately tries to avoid the sound-sensitive alien creatures intent on attacking the city.

You'll still get plenty of the jump-scares that made the first two *Quiet Place* films so effective, but there's an emotional core to *Day One* that resonates, too, especially in Samira's connection with a stranger named Eric (Joseph Quinn).

"Somehow," writes EW's critic, "this movie ends up being quite touching in between scenes when it’s making you jump." —*K.J.*

**EW grade:** B+

**Director:** Michael Sarnoski

**Cast:** Lupita Nyong'o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'. Lucasfilm Ltd.

As if the *Star Wars* movies weren't enough, this first entry in the Indiana Jones franchise further cemented Harrison Ford's status as a superstar.

One of the most beloved films of all time, *Raiders of the Lost Ark* finds Ford's rogue archaeologist battling Nazis who seek to locate the Ark of the Covenant in the hope of making their armed forces invincible.

Unfolding at a relentlessly thrilling pace, Steven Spielberg's action-adventure is elevated further by Ford's charisma, his sparring dynamic with Karen Allen as Indy's past flame, Marion, and another rousing score by John Williams. —*K.J.*

**Director:** Steven Spielberg

**Cast:** Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey, John Rhys-Davies

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

Mia Farrow as Rosemary Woodhouse in 'Rosemary's Baby'.

Courtesy Everett Collection

Regarded as one of the most frightening psychological horror films of all time, *Rosemary's Baby* gets its scares from its deft use of dread.

Mia Farrow, in her most iconic role, plays Rosemary Woodhouse, a young newlywed who moves with her husband into a New York apartment, where she becomes pregnant and begins to suspect her nosy neighbors have ulterior motives for her baby.

As Rosemary's paranoia worsens, she is met with skeptics who try to downplay her concerns, even as evidence suggests that her baby is, in fact, in danger. Farrow's emotionally wrenching performance enhances the terror, leading to a horrifying conclusion that still gives us chills. —*K.J.*

**Director:** Roman Polanski

**Cast:** Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Maurice Evans

School of Rock (2003)

Rivkah Reyes as Katie 'Posh Spice' and Jack Black as Dewey Finn in 'School of Rock'.

Andrew Schwartz/Paramount

After breaking out with 2000's *High Fidelity*, Jack Black rose to movie star status with *School of Rock*.

The beloved comedy centers Black as Dewey Finn, a former rock guitarist whose desperation for a job leads him to pose as a substitute teacher at a prep school. He proceeds to bring the sheltered kids out of their shells by forming a band with them, allowing them to express their individuality.

What could have been another silly comedy becomes a smartly funny and sweet film in director Richard Linklater's hands, with Black's energetic performance netting him widespread praise and even a Golden Globe nomination. —*K.J.*

**Director:** Richard Linklater

**Cast:** Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Mike White, Sarah Silverman**

Smile 2 (2024)

Naomi Scott as Skye Riley in 'Smile 2'.

You don't need to watch the first *Smile* film to appreciate this gnarly follow-up, which improves upon its predecessor. All you need to know is that the Smile Entity is a curse that feeds on trauma and can only be passed on by killing another person in front of a witness.

Pop star Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) becomes the latest unlucky recipient of the curse and struggles with unnerving hallucinations. There's also the added burden of her being in the public eye, raising the stakes significantly.

With frightening imagery and a fearless performance from Scott, *Smile 2* successfully avoids the dreaded sophomore slump. —*K.J.*

**Director:** Parker Finn

**Cast:** Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson

There Will Be Blood (2007)

Paul Dano as Eli Sunday and Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview in 'There Will Be Blood'.

Paramount Vantage/Courtesy Everett

Paul Thomas Anderson weaves an epic tale of greed and corruption in this riveting Western drama. The film charts Daniel Plainview's (Daniel Day-Lewis) rise to power during the oil boom at the turn of the 20th century, stepping on all who helped him get there.

Day-Lewis delivers one of his most towering performances as the ruthless baron whose fractured relationship with his adopted son comes back to haunt him in his later days. "It can hardly be called an 'act,'" EW's critic writes, "so fully does the fictional Daniel come alive, with all the fury, hatred, restlessness, and distrust that courses through him." —*K.J.*

**EW grade:** A

**Director:** Paul Thomas Anderson

**Cast:** Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Kevin J. O'Connor, Ciarán Hinds, Dillon Freasier

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Tom Cruise as Captain Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell in 'Top Gun: Maverick'. Paramount Pictures

Joseph Kosinski's follow-up to Tony Scott's 1986 original is perfect blockbuster entertainment if you can avoid some of the dubious messaging.

Tom Cruise returns, this time teaching a pack of new recruits the aerial ropes to fight a war against an unspecified enemy. It's another perfectly structured genre movie that gets by on pure adrenaline but works because you actually believe in the stakes.

Knowledge of the first film helps but isn't entirely necessary; as EW's critic observes, the film "toggles deftly between winking callbacks and standard big-beat action stuff meant to stand on its own." *—D.G.*

**EW grade:** B+

**Director:** Joseph Kosinski

**Cast: **Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Glen Powell, Val Kilmer

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