Paramount Plus doesn't quite make the cut on our guide to the best streaming services but that doesn't mean it isn't worth subscribing to Paramount's streaming service. Every month, it adds tons of new shows and movies, including more than a few excellent ones.
This month, several movies are new to Paramount Plus and hold a 90% or higher rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Bookending the list is a pair of Tom Hanks-led classics, but in between is a killer horror movie and perhaps the best Cohen Brothers movie ever made.
It's a stacked list to choose from this month, so you better start watching. Here are the seven best movies with 90% or higher on Rotten Tomatoes new to Paramount Plus this September.
'Big' (1988)
"Big" stars Tom Hanks as Josh Baskin. Specifically, as adult Josh Baskin, because Josh begins the movie as a 12-year-old (David Moscow). But when he finds the antique fortune-teller machine Zoltar, he wishes to be big, and the next morning finds that his wish has been granted.
Once that wish is granted though, not everything is smooth sailing. Josh has to get a job and a place to rent and then live as an adult for at least six weeks until he and his friend Billy (Jared Rushton) can find the Zoltar machine and bring Josh back to being 12. An iconic Tom Hanks performance is the driving force behind this beloved comedy. Don't miss it while it's on Paramount Plus.
Genre: Comedy-drama
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98%
Stream it now on Paramount Plus
'The Conversation' (1974)
This 1974 neo-noir classic stars Gene Hackman as Harry Caul, a surviellance expert living in San Francisco. One day, he's hired by a mysterious client known only as "The Director," who hires him to spy on a couple walking through Union Square. When he learns that "The Director" might have murderous intentions though, he starts to get paranoid, already wracked with guilt from a previous job that got three people killed.
"The Conversation" is up there with some of the best movies ever made, particularly in the thriller genre. Directed and written by Francis Ford Coppola and featuring a pre-"Star Wars" Harrison Ford alongside Hackman (albeit in a limited role), this movie has quite a few people operating at their peak performance. It's no wonder "The Conversation" scored three Academy Awards — including Best Picture — after winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes.
Genre: Mystery thriller
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98%
Stream it now on Paramount Plus with Showtime
'Spontaneous' (2000)
High school is already hard enough. Nobody needs the added pressure of classmates spontaneously exploding in the goriest way possible. But that's exactly the plot of this 2020 romantic black comedy horror coming-of-age movie. And despite covering more genres than you can count, the film runs a tight 101 minutes.
"Spontaneous" stars Katherine Langford as Mara and Charlie Plummer as her love interest Dylan. It's got everything from love to sex, debauchery to exploding high schoolers and even some good old-fashioned government agencies involved in a potential conspiracy. If the trailer is any indication, you'll want to plan to watch "Spontaneous" on Paramount Plus.
Genre: Black comedy/Horror
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%
Stream it now on Paramount Plus
'It Follows' (2015)
Like "Spontaneous," this horror movie involves romance. But unlike the more humorous coming-of-age movie, "It Follows" is a tale of what's literally the worst thing that can happen when you have sex.
This horror movie starts with Annie Marshall's (Bailey Spry) corpse found mutilated on a beach. Meanwhile, university student Jay Height (Maika Monroe) goes on a movie date with her boyfriend Hugh (Jake Weary). They hook up ... and then Jake proceeds to chloroform her. When she wakes up, he drops a bombshell on her — they're being hunted by a shape-shifting entity that only they can see, and it's because they had sex.
"It Follows" is a brilliant premise and thankfully, the execution is equally brilliant. This movie is a must-watch for any horror fan.
Genre: Horror
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%
Stream it on Paramount Plus
'Love and Monsters' (2020)
"Love and Monsters" might be one of the more underrated movies on this list. Despite rave reviews from basically everyone who saw it, the movie only made $1.1 million on a $30 million budget. Now that it's out of theaters and on Paramount Plus though, you should definitely check out this adventure movie masquerading as a love story.
"Love and Monsters" stars Dylan O'Brien as Joel, whose life is turned upside down when the destruction of an oncoming asteroid causes a monster apocalypse on Earth. Seven years after those tragic events, he shockingly discovers that his girlfriend Aimee is still alive. Knowing this, he goes on an epic quest to reconnect with her.
Genre: Action-adventure
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94%
Stream it now on Paramount Plus
'No Country for Old Men' (2007)
Based on the 2005 Cormac McCarthy movie, "No Country for Old Men" may be the Coen Brothers' best movie ever. That's a bold claim, given the prolific and impressive catalog of the Minnesota natives, but it's the only Best Picture winner they've ever made. That was one of four Oscars this movie would go on to win from eight nominations.
This Western crime thriller follows three main characters: Llewelyn Moss (Brolin), Anton Chigurh (Bardem), and Ed Tom Bell (Jones). Moss is a Vietnam War veteran and welder who stumbles upon a large sum of money in the desert, Chjigurh is a hitman hired to recover it and Bell is the sheriff in charge of investigating the crimes associated with this missing $2 million.
All three are great, as is Kelly Macdonald as Moss's wife, Carla Jean, and Woody Harrelson as the bounty hunter Carson Wells. But it's undoubtedly Bardem that steals the show, with an Academy Award-winning iconic performance.
Genre: Western crime
Rotten Tomatoes score: 93%
Stream it now on Paramount Plus
'That Thing You Do!' (1996)
We started with Tom Hanks, so it's only appropriate we end with Hanks when given the opportunity. And this month, we have just such an opportunity thanks to this 1996 classic about a "Fab Four" that aren't the Beatles, even though they sound like ... and look like ... and are an explicit homage to the Liverpool legends.
In this movie though, the fictional band — dubbed "The Oneders" (later changed to "The Wonders" — features lead singer Jimmy Mattingly (Johnathon Schaech), lead guitarist Lenny Haise (Steve Zahn), T.B. Player (Ethan Embry) on bass and Guy "Skitch" Patterson on drums, filling in for and later taking over for Chad (Giovanni Ribisi), the bands original drummer. They start the movie playing local gigs, but once they're discovered by Mr. Amos White (Hanks), an A&R representative for Play-Tone Records, they quickly rise to fame and up the Billboard charts. Come for Hanks's more than adequate directorial debut, but stay for the titular Oscar-wining song written by Fountains of Wayne bassist Adam Schlesinger.
Genre: Musical comedy
Rotten Tomatoes score: 93%
Stream it now on Paramount Plus
