Although Paramount+ doesn’t have the largest library of movies among major streaming services, it leans more towards quality over quanтιтy. Their hundreds of films include some of the best in the past few decades, like Interstellar, The Wolf of Wall Street, Mean Girls, and Top Gun: Maverick.
Since those movies are so iconic, they are easy to spot when you log into the streaming platform. The real gems are discovering the lesser-known films on Paramount+. The projects that struggled commercially or received mixed reviews at first, only to be more appreciated over time. The kind of hidden gem movies that are great finds.
Project Almanac (2015)
Upon release, many people overlooked Project Almanac. It barely grossed over $30 million at the box office and currently holds a 38% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, a closer look reveals that it’s still a really fun movie.
The premise of Project Almanac centers on a group of high school students who manage to build a time machine. Time travel isn’t a new concept in the sci-fi genre but doing so with irresponsible teenagers opened up some intriguing aspects for this film.
The characters start by having a good time with their new time machine, only for the consequences of their actions to make things dangerous. There’s also something to appreciate about the film not having any major household names in the cast, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in this world without distractions.
Novocaine (2025)
The most recent movie on this list is Novocaine. The 2025 film tells the story of an everyday guy who has the inability to feel pain as he goes after a bunch of criminals who robbed the bank where he works and kidnaps the girl he has developed feelings for.
Novocaine was overlooked at the box office but received strong reviews. The driving forces of the movie are the lead actors, with Jack Quaid doing fantastic work as the protagonist and the underrated Amber Midthunder shining as the love interest. Their chemistry is among the best in a 2025 film.
The movie isn’t just a straightforward action flick either. There are plenty of comedic elements with the pain concept throughout and there are more twists than you’d expect. It’s not an Oscar contender or anything like that but it’s an absolute blast either way.
The Faculty (1998)
When discussing cult classics from the late ’90s, it’s hard to leave out The Faculty. Directed by the always great Robert Rodriguez and penned by Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson, The Faculty is a sci-fi horror with a tremendous cast.
The film follows a group of high school students during an alien invasion at their school. Given the differences that many of the characters have, the vibe of The Breakfast Club is there but masterfully blended with horror elements.
The aforementioned great cast includes Josh Hartnett, Clea DuVall, Jordana Brewster, Elijah Wood, and even The Daily Show host Jon Stewart. The Faculty became a cult classic after struggling commercially and while it’s loved by many now, there are still plenty of people who need to discover it.
Honor Society (2022)
As popular as Paramount+ is, when it comes to producing their own films, it doesn’t have the same hype as a Netflix original movie. That’s why an original film like Honor Society flew under the radar in 2022, even with two notable young stars at the forefront.
The film features Angourie Rice of The Nice Guys and Spider-Man: Far From Home fame and Gaten Matarazzo of Stranger Things, which should’ve been enough to bring in young audiences. While it was the most-watched movie on the platform the week of release, a lot of people still don’t know about it.
Honor Society focuses on Honor (Rice), her school’s top student, who concocts a plan to take down her compeтιтion, including a boy named Michael (Matarazzo). However, things get messy when she starts to like him and his own true intentions get revealed, making for a twisty high school drama.
Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
With a lot of long-running horror franchises, especially within the slasher subgenre, people tend to think the first installment is the best and the rest never live up to the rest. While that’s often an accurate statement, it means some real gems get looked over.
Among those is Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives. The fourth film in the franchise was quite good and seemed to mark the end of Jason Voorhees, with the fifth movie featuring a different antagonist. This entry brought the iconic killer back to the forefront and did so in the right way.
While the 58% rating on Rotten Tomatoes might not seem all that impressive on its own, it is the second-highest score for the Friday the 13th franchise. Jason is as brutal as he’s ever been, the dark humor works, and it takes Jason into supernatural territory.
Spontaneous (2020)
Films that get limited releases in theaters are often the ones that end up as hidden gems or cult classics later on. While that hasn’t quite happened yet for Spontaneous, more people should check it out and find this fun dark comedy.
Spontaneous is based on a novel of the same name and centers on Mara and Dylan, a couple in high school who deal with their relationship while students around them inexplicably explode. They just spontaneously combust, with blood splattering everywhere.
The setup of Spontaneous is ridiculous on its own, yet that’s why it works so well. Critics were pleased with the film, which holds a whopping 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It also helps that one of the leads is Katherine Langford, the star of the popular first season of 13 Reasons Why.
Seven Psychopaths (2012)
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Martin McDonagh has become one of the most impressive filmmakers in all of Hollywood over the past couple of decades. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Banshees of Inisherin were major Oscar contenders and his first movie, In Bruges, was a look at that talent.
Lost in the middle of those projects is Seven Psychopaths, which is in the conversation for his best work. The premise sees a struggling screenwriter get caught up in the criminal underworld when his friend kidnaps a gangster’s dog. It’s exactly the kind of oddball humor McDonagh is known for.
The cast of Seven Psychopaths is tremendous, featuring Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, Woody Harrelson, Olga Kurylenko, and Abbie Cornish, just to name a few. Though forgotten commercially, the film received strong reviews and is a must-see for anyone who liked McDonagh’s other work.
Love And Monsters (2020)
Sometimes, you just want to sit back and watch a fun movie and that’s exactly what Love and Monsters is perfect for. The film was released during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is part of why it was such a flop at the box office.
That said, those who took the time to watch Love and Monsters appreciated how much of a blast it is. In fact, critics loved the movie, which holds an impressive 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was lauded for being an action-adventure project with some surprising emotional moments.
Love and Monsters is set in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by monsters and follows Joel (Dylan O’Brien), who embarks on a mission through the harrowing landscape to find his girlfriend (Jessica Henwick), whom he reconnected with via radio. From fun monster fights to a lovable dog companion, there’s a lot to love here.
Annihilation (2018)
Alex Garland first made his name as the writer of acclaimed projects 28 Days Later and Dredd before debuting as a director with the Oscar-winning Ex Machina. He’s also been behind recent films like Civil War and Warfare, but one of his movies remains a hidden gem.
That’s Annihilation, a trippy sci-fi movie that might’ve been too weird for general audiences. It grossed just over $40 million on a budget of around $50 million, making it a flop. However, Annihilation is an incredible film that everyone should see at least once.
The story centers on a group of scientists who enter a mysterious, quarantined area known as The Shimmer, which features mutated animals and plants. The talented cast is a huge boost here, with Natalie Portman being joined by Tessa Thompson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Oscar Isaac, all delivering strong performances.
Babylon (2022)
One word to describe Babylon would be “misunderstood.” It’s not that the film is confusing or anything like that, just that it wasn’t beloved by critics or audience members upon release, yet it is already being reevaluated as something of a masterpiece.
Babylon comes from Damian Chazelle, who won Best Director for La La Land and helmed another fantastic film, Whiplash. The story focuses on several characters who deal with Hollywood during the late 1920s as the industry moved from silent films to talkies.
Margot Robbie is a revelation as Nellie LaRoy, an actress with undeniable charisma. Brad Pitt gives one of his most underrated performances as legendary actor Jack Conrad. There’s also Diego Calva, Jean Smart, and so many others who put on fantastic performances that carry this must-see film.
