The 25 best movies on Paramount+

From classic comedies to recent blockbusters, these films are sure to please.

Originally launched (to some skepticism) as CBS All Access in 2014, it's safe to say that Paramount+ was ahead of its time. It was, in fact, the first over-the-top service from an American broadcaster. In 2021, during the pandemic theatrical shakeup, Paramount+ rebranded and made a name for itself with an admirable library of films.

Picking only 25 of the best movies on Paramount+ was no easy task, but we at EW tried our best. Join us as we run through the list.

40 Days and 40 Nights (2002)

This stylish mid-aughts comedy follows a recently heartbroken San Franciscan (Josh Hartnett) who meets the perfect woman (Shannyn Sossamon) just as he undertakes a brief vow of celibacy for Lent. The movie never addresses why this is such a problem, but it's a breezy and likable story with some well-placed needle drops and pleasant cinematography. As EW's critic writes, "It takes a wee bit of originality to make a teen flick in which the hero spends the entire time trying not to get laid." It makes you yearn for the days when comedies were shot, lit, and designed like real films and not television sitcoms. —Declan Gallagher

Where to watch 40 Days and 40 Nights: Paramount+ 

EW grade: N/A (read the review)

Director: Michael Lehmann

Cast: Josh Hartnett, Shannyn Sossamon, Vinessa Shaw, Paulo Costanzo, Monet Mazur

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Bad Santa (2003)

Terry Zwigoff's rude and crude Christmas comedy allows star Billy Bob Thornton to play merrily against his serious reputation. As a lowlife criminal who takes a job as a department store Santa each holiday season so he can rob the store on Christmas Eve, Thornton displays an admirable willingness to go as far as the role requires (As he told PeopleTV in 2019 about the drunk mall scene, "I drank about three glasses of red wine for breakfast... Then I switched over to vodka and cranberry juice, and then I had a few Bud Lights. By the time I got to that scene there, I barely knew I was in a movie.") Bad Santa is an exquisite, dark, festive classic, but you'd best avoid the 2016 sequel. —D.G

Where to watch Bad Santa: Paramount+

EW grade: N/A (read the review)

Director: Terry Zwigoff

Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Brett Kelly, Lauren Graham, John Ritter, Cloris Leachman

Related content: Violent Night star David Harbour says he'd fight Billy Bob Thornton's Santa 'any day of the week'

Clueless (1995)

Alicia Silverstone stars as Cher, the girl with, like, totally the coolest closet of all time, in Amy Heckerling's update of Jane Austen's Emma. It's a perfectly calibrated romp that both embraces and subverts some tried and true tropes of the teen comedy. "More than a decade and a half after we first met Silverstone's divine Ms. Horowitz," EW's critic wrote of the film in 2012, "she still has an important message for those of us watching at home: Namely, 'tis a far, far better thing doing stuff for other people.'" —D.G

Where to watch Clueless: Paramount+

EW grade: C+ (read the review)

Director: Amy Heckerling

Cast: Alicia Silverstone, Paul Rudd, Brittany Murphy, Stacey Dash, Donald Faison

Related content: Alicia Silverstone remembers being stunned by Brittany Murphy's Clueless audition

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

Matthew Broderick inspired an entire generation of kids to be bad in John Hughes’ classic about hipster high schooler Ferris Bueller (Broderick) and his wacky, wild day playing hooky with his morose friend Cameron (Alan Ruck) and girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara). It's a silly romp and perhaps not much more than that, but the movie holds up (and manages to feel a bit modern) all these years later. As EW's critic recalls, "It's the rare film that charms both Kurt Cobain and Dan Quayle, but like Ferris Bueller himself — who was popular with sportos, motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wasteoids, dweebies, and d---heads alike...Ferris Bueller’s Day Off appealed to just about everyone." —D.G

Where to watch Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: Paramount+

EW grade: N/A (read the review)

Director: John Hughes

Cast: Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jeffrey Jones, Jennifer Grey

Related content: Hear Alan Ruck's idea for an elderly Ferris Bueller sequel

Gladiator (2000)

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. And we will soon see Scott return to direct Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington in a follow-up installment, 24 years later. —D.G

Where to watch Gladiator: Paramount+

EW grade: A– (read the review)

Director: Ridley Scott

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

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Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

While most films centering on musicians tend to be rags-to-riches tales, they tend to overrepresent the success rate of those who follow this particular career path. Inside Llewyn Davis is the Coen brothers' ode to the ones who don't make it big, despite their best efforts. Oscar Isaac — in his breakout role — plays the title character, a folk singer in 1960s New York who struggles to find success after his album flops, compounded by the stress of his personal life. Through it all, Llewyn tries to maintain his artistic integrity, even if it means disappointment and a dwindling bank account. "With Inside Llewyn Davis, they’ve made a film that is almost spooky in its perversity," EW's critic writes of the Coen brothers' subversion of typical Hollywood storytelling, "a lovingly lived-in, detailed tribute to the folk scene that — hauntingly — has shut their hero out." —Kevin Jacobsen

Where to watch Inside Llewyn Davis: Paramount+

EW grade: A– (read the review)

Director: Joel and Ethan Coen

Cast: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund, Justin Timberlake

Related content: Oscar Isaac reveals how a tale of New Orleans jazz musicians shaped Inside Llewyn Davis

It Follows (2015)

David Robert Mitchell's masterful thriller more or less birthed the unfortunately termed (but fruitful) "elevated horror" movement, and for good reason. It's a film so stunningly unnerving that certain moments and scenes will be forever imprinted on your brain. Maika Monroe stars as Jay, a young teen who acquires an STD ("sexually transmitted demon") after a one-night stand. Instead of the normal maladies one might have in that situation, Jay finds herself pursued by ghoulish specters who may or may not be real. The only way she can pass it on is by sleeping with someone else — and you know how that goes. —D.G

Where to watch It Follows: Paramount+ With Showtime

EW grade: A– (read the review)

Director: David Robert Mitchell

Cast: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Jake Weary, Lili Sepe, Olivia Luccardi

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Last Holiday (2006)

Queen Latifah and LL Cool J share an enviable chemistry in Wayne Wang's sensitive remake of the 1950 British film of the same name. Last Holiday is about 20 percent broad comedy and 80 percent genuine pathos, which turns out to be more successful than you'd think. Latifah plays an unrealized woman who, when diagnosed with a fatal disease and given weeks to live, decides to live it up at a chalet in Europe. It's nothing groundbreaking, but Wang's film has a pleasingly old-school, unhurried essence, and Latifah is always a welcome dramatic presence. —D.G

Where to watch Last Holiday: Paramount+

EW grade: N/A (read the review)

Director: Wayne Wang

Cast: Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, Giancarlo Esposito, Alicia Witt, Jascha Washington

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Lucky Number Slevin (2006)

One of the better guns-and-geezers riffs, Paul McGuigan's stylish and twisty Rubik's Cube concerns young Slevin (Josh Hartnett) in the middle of a war between rival gang bosses (Ben Kingsley and Morgan Freeman). EW's critic observes that, in the film, Hartnett "knows how to use his pie-eyed boyish lethargy to maximum duplicitous effect." Similar to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (another inspired neo-noir from the previous year), Lucky Number Slevin puts a glossy, studio-approved spin on some of the more depraved pulp fiction of the '40s and '50s. —D.G

Where to watch Lucky Number Slevin: Paramount+ With Showtime

EW grade: N/A (read the review)

Director: Paul McGuigan

Cast: Josh Hartnett, Lucy Liu, Morgan Freeman, Bruce Willis, Ben Kingsley

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Mafia Mamma (2023)

Catherine Hardwicke's surprisingly weird action-comedy stars Toni Collette as a housewife who attends her grandfather's funeral in Italy only to be made the head of his substantial crime syndicate. It's as high-concept as comedies get, and that's the point. Collette couldn't put a foot wrong if she tried, performing at the exact frenetic pace a movie called Mafia Mamma requires. The action is admirably vicious, at times engaging in Evil Dead levels of gore. There's also a subplot about Monica Bellucci (made for comedy, it turns out) and a prosthetic limb that is truly one of the biggest, wildest swings a studio comedy has taken in recent memory. —D.G

Where to watch Mafia Mamma: Paramount+ With Showtime

Director: Catherine Hardwicke

Cast: Toni Collette, Monica Bellucci, Sophia Nomvete, Alessandro Bressanello, Eduardo Scarpetta

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Mean Girls (2004)

A musical update of Mark Waters' seminal high school comedy — following new girl Cady getting inducted into a group of queen bees headed by the ruthless Regina George — is now streaming on Paramount+. But, there's no better time to revisit the original, which has only gotten funnier with age. It's both laugh-out-loud entertaining and a thoughtful exploration of teenage behavior. As EW's critic wrote in 2004 of the Tina Fey-penned comedy, "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

Where to watch Mean Girls: Paramount+

EW grade: N/A (read the review)

Director: Mark Waters

Cast: Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, Tina Fey, Tim Meadows

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Mission: Impossible — Fallout (2018)

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

Where to watch Mission: Impossible — Fallout: Paramount+

EW grade: A (read the review)

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Cast: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Angela Bassett, Vanessa Kirby, Michelle Monaghan, Alec Baldwin

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Pearl (2022)

Ti West's feverish, magnetic homage to John Waters, Douglas Sirk, and William Castle is a prequel following the titular farmgirl (Mia Goth) turned teen killer of X (2022). Dreaming of stardom during long days at the cinema, Pearl's perception of reality begins to warp and her taste for fame becomes homicidal. As EW's critic writes, "Pearl is best viewed as its main character's movie-obsessed vision, everyone else in it mere supporting players to the swirl in her head." —D.G

Where to watch Pearl: Paramount+ With Showtime

EW grade: A– (read the review)

Director: Ti West

Cast: Mia Goth, Emma Jenkins, Tandi Wright, David Corenswet, Alistair Sewell

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Private Parts (1997)

Howard Stern turns in quite the performance as himself in Betty Thomas' sly biopic about the shock jock–turned–celebrity interviewer. Thomas understands what makes Stern nearly impossible to stop listening to — even if you don't agree with him. "The star, no stranger to dressing up and acting out, proves to be a game and likable actor," EW's critic writes, "and Thomas and company draw on that likability to shade him as vulgar — but not off-putting; puerile — but not indefensibly sexist; outrageous — but never alienatingly racist." —D.G

Where to watch Private Parts: Paramount+

EW grade: N/A (read the review)

Director: Betty Thomas

Cast: Howard Stern, Robin Quivers, Mary McCormack, Fred Norris, Paul Giamatti

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A Quiet Place (2018)

Not advised for those easily startled, 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.

Where to watch A Quiet Place: Paramount+

EW grade: B+ (read the review)

Director: John Krasinski

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

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Raising Arizona (1987)

The Coen brothers have long been lauded for putting their offbeat spin on the plight of working-class characters stumbling their way through crimes and their messy aftermath. Raising Arizona is one of their foundational crime comedies of this variety, centering on ex-convict Hi (Nicolas Cage) and his ex-police officer wife Ed (Holly Hunter) as they try to figure out how to start a family. Unable to conceive or adopt, they resort to kidnapping a newborn baby, leading to a chaotic series of events. Cage and Hunter are perfectly suited for the film's zany energy, with EW ranking Raising Arizona as the No. 1 Coen brothers movie, praising it as "a fairy tale that points out that no good guy is ever all good, and the bad guys are just flawed characters who were raised wrong." —K.J.

Where to watch Raising Arizona: Paramount+

Director: Joel Coen

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter

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Red Eye (2005)

Wes Craven's stone-cold brilliant B-movie is so good it almost seems like a disservice to call it a B-movie. A case study in films not needing to be long or intricate to be utterly thrilling and highly cinematic, this sub-80-minute genre-hopper finds Rachel McAdams trapped on a plane with a murderous Cillian Murphy. Red Eye moves like a bullet, jumping from disaster movie to psychological two-hander to blazing action and eventually a pretty gnarly stalker-in-the-house sequence. It's ruthlessly structured and quite different from anything else Craven did. —D.G

Where to watch Red Eye: Paramount+

EW grade: N/A (read the review)

Director: Wes Craven

Cast: Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, Brian Cox, Jayma Mays, Theresa Press-Marx

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Scrooged (1988)

Of the many Christmas Carol remakes and homages, Scrooged holds up as one of the most inspired. Bill Murray stars as heartless TV exec Frank Cross, who is visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve to show him the error of his wicked ways. "It's been remade a million times but never like 1988's Scrooged," notes an EW writer. "For one thing, none of the rest of them have Bill Murray." Richard Donner's movie is irreverent without being nasty, preserving the sanctity of Dickens' original tale while giving it a quintessentially '80s spin. —D.G

Where to watch Scrooged: Paramount+

Director: Richard Donner

Cast: Bill Murray, Bobcat Goldthwait, Alfre Woodard, Carol Kane, David Johansen

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She's All That (1999)

Another particularly broad '90s high school comedy (can you tell we love the subgenre?), this one has an admittedly problematic plot at its core. Cool guy Zack (Freddie Prinze Jr.) is dared to date super-not-cool (but, like, artsy and thoughtful and interesting) Lainey (Rachael Leigh Cook). We've all seen the scene where she walks down the stairs newly beautified, and it's easy to roll your eyes at the concept. The chemistry between Prinze and Cook, though, as well as a smart script (polished by none other than M. Night Shyamalan), set this one well apart from the pack. —D.G

Where to watch She’s All That: Paramount+

EW grade: B– (read the review)

Director: Robert Iscove

Cast: Freddie Prinze Jr., Rachael Leigh Cook, Matthew Lillard, Paul Walker, Anna Paquin

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Titanic (1997)

This disaster epic has enthralled audiences since 1997, with its story of star-crossed lovers Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) set against the backdrop of the RMS Titanic sinking on its maiden voyage in 1912. While Jack and Rose may be fictional, director James Cameron took great pains to be as accurate as possible with the construction of the ship and its subsequent sinking — even if he now contends that he was "half right" in his depiction of the disaster. Titanic would ultimately become one of the highest-grossing movies of all time and tie the record for most wins in Oscar history with 11. —K.J.

Where to watch Titanic: Paramount+

EW grade: A (read the review)

Director: James Cameron

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Gloria Stuart, Victor Garber, Bernard Hill, Jonathan Hyde, Danny Nucci, David Warner, Bill Paxton

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Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

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

Where to watch Top Gun: Maverick: Paramount+

EW grade: B+ (read the review)

Director: Joseph Kosinski

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

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The Warriors (1979)

At the tail end of the violent '70s, Walter Hill released this now-cult classic action thriller, a stylized view of gangland wars in New York City. The titular Warriors are one of many gangs that converge for a summit, with the hope of calling a truce. This proves short-lived, however, when the brutal leader of one gang executes another, and subsequently pins it on the Warriors. After a hit is sent out on the Warriors, they are forced to defend themselves from cops and rival gangs at all angles as they try to return home. With its dystopian landscape, heightened performances, and unique costumes, The Warriors is a gritty adventure through a violent playground. While some will undoubtedly not jibe with its hyper-exaggerated style, it will absolutely take you back to a specific time and place. —K.J.

Where to watch The Warriors: Paramount+

Director: Walter Hill

Cast: Michael Beck, James Remar, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, Marcelino Sánchez, David Harris

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World War Z (2013)

Initially dismissed for its inflated budget and reported reshoots, World War Z ended up as a neat, efficient thriller. Brad Pitt, as United Nations investigator Gerry Lane, goes on a quest to save the world from a zombie apocalypse. (As his homebound wife, Mireille Enos is given pitifully little to do.) The best part of the movie is ironically the reshot portion, a stripped-down stalking sequence in a laboratory that closes the film. "World War Z turns the prospect of the end of our world into something tumultuous and horrifying and, at the same time, exciting," EW's critic writes. "It's scary good fun." —D.G

Where to watch World War Z: Paramount+

EW grade: A– (read the review)

Director: Mark Forster

Cast: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, Matthew Fox, Elyes Gabel

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Young Adult (2011)

This angry and weird little movie was made by Jason Reitman after his Oscars hot streak, seeing him reunite with Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody. It's one of Reitman's best films and definitely Cody's most mature, a spiky and risky examination of a former cool girl (Charlize Theron) who returns to her hometown to show everyone how much better than them she is. As EW's critic notes, "The queasy brilliance of Young Adult lies in the movie's refusal to make Mavis so monstrously crazy that she poses no threat because she’s obviously a cartoon." —D.G

Where to watch Young Adult: Paramount+

EW grade: A (read the review)

Director: Jason Reitman

Cast: Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson, Elizabeth Reaser, Collette Wolf

Related content: Young Adult: Is it wrong to relate to Charlize Theron?

Zodiac (2007)

This police-and-journalists procedural charting the still-unsolved crime spree of the Zodiac Killer is director David Fincher's masterpiece. It's certainly the best "true crime" movie and, depending on your tolerance for All the President's Men, might be the best journalism movie. Though more factual than many films, Zodiac moves at a rocketing clip and contains at least six sequences of full-blooded terror – Ione Skye on the highway and Jake Gyllenhaal in the basement, to name but two. This is a movie that was well and truly ahead of its time. —D.G

Where to watch Zodiac: Paramount+

EW grade: N/A (read the review)

Director: David Fincher

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox, Elias Koteas, Donal Logue, John Carroll Lynch, Dermot Mulroney

Related content: David Fincher addresses tension with Jake Gyllenhaal on Zodiac set: 'He was very distracted'

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Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.