Best war, documentary, & drama shows on Paramount+, ranked.
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- #1691

Arrival
2016 · Movie · 1h 56mDrama · Mystery · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
1 OscarLinguist Louise Banks leads a team of investigators when gigantic spaceships touch down around the world. As nations teeter on the verge of global war, Banks and her crew must find a way to communicate with the extraterrestrial vi...
Paramount+ - #3388

Hell on Wheels
2011–2016 · Series · 5 seasonsDrama · Western
The Civil War is past, but former Confederate soldier Cullen Bohannon can't put it behind him. Fresh are the memories of the death of his wife, killed at the hands of Union soldiers, an act that sets him on a course of revenge.
Paramount+ - #4086

Prophet's Prey
2015 · Movie · 1h 41mDocumentary · Biography · History
When Warren Jeffs rose to Prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, he took control of a religion with a history of polygamous and underage marriage. In a short time, Warren managed to expand these practices and t...
Paramount+ - #4186
Fellow Travelers
2023– · Series · 1 seasonDrama · Romance
Decades-long chronicle of the risky, volatile and steamy relationship between the charismatic and ambitious Hawk and the pious and idealistic Tim, two political staffers who fall in love at the height of the 1950s Lavender Scare.
Paramount+ - #6083

Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough
2015–2016 · Series · 1 seasonDocumentary
David Attenborough revisits the Great Barrier Reef after nearly 60 years. His visit takes him from the most exposed part of the reef as well as down to 300m below the surface discovering corals never seen before.
Paramount+ - #7979
We Need to Talk About Cosby
2022– · Series · 1 seasonDocumentary · Biography · Crime
Writer/director W. Kamau Bell's exploration of Bill Cosby's descent from "America's Dad" to convicted sexual predator. Comedians, journalists and survivors have a candid, first of its kind conversation about the man, his career an...
Paramount+ - #10876
A Quiet Place Part II
2021 · Movie · 1h 37mDrama · Horror · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Following the events at home, the Abbott family now face the terrors of the outside world. Forced to venture into the unknown, they realize the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats lurking beyond the sand path.
NetflixParamount+ - #10976

Personal Shopper
2016 · Movie · French · 1h 45mDrama · Mystery · Thriller
A personal shopper in Paris refuses to leave the city until she makes contact with her twin brother who previously died there. Her life becomes more complicated when a mysterious person contacts her via text message.
Paramount+ - #11076
Light of My Life
2019 · Movie · 1h 59mDrama · Sci-Fi & Fantasy · Thriller
A father and his child journey through the outskirts of society a decade after a pandemic has wiped out half the world's population. As the father struggles to protect his child, their bond and the character of humanity are tested.
Paramount+ - #12873
Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored Story of '80s Hair Metal
2024– · Series · 1 seasonDocumentary
Follow the wild, excessive '80s hard rock scene's insanity and ambition that enthralled generations. Uncensored behind-the-scenes look at an iconic musical era's influence on culture through candid insights from renowned rock jour...
Paramount+ - #13173
Sid & Judy
2019 · Movie · 1h 35mDocumentary · Biography · History
Revealing new look at Judy Garland fifty years after her tragic, untimely death. Fusing the unpublished recollections of producer, manager and third husband, Sid Luft, with film clips, rare concert footage and Judy's own inimitabl...
Paramount+ - #13673
The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
2021 · Movie · 1h 23mDrama · Thriller
Based on the true story of the events that led to the death of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., an elderly African American veteran with bipolar disorder, who was killed during a conflict with police officers who were dispatched to check ...
Paramount+ - #13773
Lilies Not for Me
2025 · Movie · 1h 39mDrama · History · Romance
A gay novelist and his psychiatric nurse bond over a series of doctor-ordered 'dates' as he tells the story of a friendship which spiraled out of control when they turned to a risky procedure to cure themselves of feelings for eac...
Paramount+Prime Video - #14772
Kyle Kinane: Whiskey Icarus
2012 · Movie · 1hDocumentary · Comedy
In his first hour-long Comedy Central special, Kyle Kinane contemplates the existence of God, and the true meaning of being delivered an unsliced pizza. This special is extended and uncensored with all sorts of extra Kyle.
Paramount+ - #14872
Inside the Factory
2015– · Series · 10 seasonsDocumentary · History
How our favorite foods and products are made? Cherry Healey and Gregg Wallace go into the factories to figure out, while Ruth Goodman tell us about the historical development of the manufacturing process of these products.
Paramount+ - #14972
The Day Kennedy Died
2013 · Movie · 1h 32mDocumentary · History
Captures the frantic rush to the local hospital, the public chaos that ensued, the quickly mobilized manhunt by law enforcement looking for a suspect after witnesses identified the source of the gunshots as the Texas Book Deposito...
Paramount+ - #15472
The Spymasters: CIA in the Crosshairs
2015 · Movie · 2hDocumentary · Drama · War
Documentary revealing the inner workings of the world's most powerful intelligence organization, with unprecedented access to America's spy network, all 12 living CIA directors and top agency operatives, who talk candidly about to...
Paramount+ - #15971
Lynching Postcards: Token of a Great Day
2021 · Movie · 15mDocumentary
During 1880-1968 over 4,000 African Americans were lynched at the hands of white mobs. These lynchings were commemorated through souvenir postcards that would ultimately be subverted by Black activists to expose racist violence in...
Paramount+ - #17270
The Last Expedition
2024 · Movie · Polish · 1h 20mDocumentary
The true story of Wanda Rutkiewicz, the first woman in the world and the first person from Poland to climb the highest peaks on earth - told by herself. Wanda entered the men's world of high-mountain expeditions without an invitat...
Paramount+ - #17769
The Mountain Lion and Me
2018 · Movie · 51mDocumentary
On the outskirts of Yellowstone National Park is Paradise Valley, Montana, home to bears, wolves, elk, and an animal so secretive, few ever get to see it: the mountain lion. Wildlife filmmaker Casey Anderson became one of those lu...
Paramount+ - #18269
Mystery in Yellowstone
2015 · Movie · 46mDocumentary
Yellowstone National Park is home to a vast array of landscapes and a huge diversity of animals, united in a fascinating ecosystem, one that is currently in severe trouble. The area once contained over 19,000 elk, but its numbers ...
Paramount+ - #18369
Americans Underground: Secret City of WWI
2017 · Movie · 44mDocumentary
An amazing discovery has been made beneath a farm field in Northern France: a vast underground city where World War I soldiers, on both sides of the conflict, took refuge a century ago. Even more remarkable, it is one of hundreds ...
Paramount+ - #18469
Madagascar: Africa's Galapagos
2019 · Movie · 50mDocumentary
It's the 10th of May 1836, Charles Darwin leans on the beaten wooden gunwale of The Beagle. He's yet to start writing his "Origin of the Species", but he's already forming his theories about evolution. Locations like the Galapagos...
Paramount+ - #18969
Miles To Go Before I Sleep
2016 · Movie · 35mDocumentary
35 minute documentary about musicians and the relationships they have with their roadies. Features Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters) and Jim James (My Morning Jacket), who talk about their time on t...
Paramount+ - #19169
Angola Do You Hear Us? Voices from a Plantation Prison
2021 · Movie · 27mDocumentary
Angola Do You Hear Us? Voices from a Plantation Prison gives us a window into playwright Liza Jessie Peterson's performance in 2020 of her acclaimed play The Peculiar Patriot performed at Angola, the Louisiana State Penitentiary, ...
Paramount+ - #19269
Unbelievable Flying Objects
2007 · Movie · 52mDocumentary
In the history of aviation, there were some ideas that didn't quite...fly. From the bizarre vertical "Pogo" plane to the disastrous Goblin, nicknamed the "Flying Egg," we take an in-depth probe of some magnificent men and their no...
Paramount+ - #19669

Out of the Rubble
2016 · Movie · 17mDocumentary
This is a fine short film neatly pulling together post-war archive to tell a story of the modernisation of Britain through architectural change, town planning, immigration and attitudes towards all this. All done in less than 20 minutes. There's such a good flow to the editing that it probably won't even feel its running length. There's a few contemporary additions including interviews with some of the subjects from the archive, which help to pull of the social commentaries together, but none detract from the flow or style of this piece of documentary cinema. All in all it's a good use of the BFI's archive so hopefully there'll be more similar efforts like this in the future.
Paramount+ - #19769
Hunting the Hammerhead
2016 · Movie · 46mDocumentary
The tropical waters of Bimini in the Bahamas are the hunting grounds for a large, yet elusive predator - the Great Hammerhead Shark. After 7 years research into the hunting senses of the Great White Shark, sensory biologist Dr. Cr...
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