Best drama, action, & documentary shows on Paramount+, ranked.
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- #2291

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+ - #4788

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+ - #5986

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+ - #6186
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+ - #7885
Star Trek: Voyager
1995–2001 · Series · 7 seasonsAction · Drama
7 EmmysPulled to the far side of the galaxy, where the Federation is seventy-five years away at maximum warp speed, the crew of the Starfleet star-ship Voyager must forge a truce with a group of Maquis rebels in order to find a way home.
Paramount+ - #8584

Galaxy Quest
1999 · Movie · 1h 42mAction · Comedy · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
The alumni cast of a space opera television series have to play their roles as the real thing when an alien race needs their help. However, they also have to defend both Earth and the alien race from a reptilian warlord.
Paramount+ - #10083

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+ - #10781
Star Trek: Enterprise
2001–2005 · Series · 4 seasonsAction · Drama
4 EmmysA century before Captain Kirk's five-year mission, Jonathan Archer captains the United Earth ship Enterprise during the early years of Starfleet, leading up to the Earth-Romulan War and the formation of the Federation.
Paramount+ - #11781

Aerial America
2010– · Series · 8 seasonsDocumentary
Helicopter flights above the USA give breathtaking views of the nation's historic landmarks and natural wonders all presented in stunning HD aerial cinematography while narration provides background information and historical cont...
Paramount+ - #12280

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
1991 · Movie · 1h 50mAction · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
On the eve of retirement, Kirk and McCoy are charged with assassinating the Klingon High Chancellor and imprisoned. The Enterprise crew must help them escape to thwart a conspiracy aimed at sabotaging the last best hope for peace.
Paramount+ - #13879
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+ - #15178
CSI: Vegas
2021–2024 · Series · 3 seasonsAction · Crime
Facing an existential threat that could bring down the Crime Lab, a brilliant team of forensic investigators must welcome back old friends and deploy new techniques to preserve and serve justice in Sin City (aka Las Vegas, Nevada).
Paramount+ - #16777
Welcome to Sarajevo
1997 · Movie · 1h 43mDrama · War
American and British journalists Flynn and Michael Henderson, along with their respective news teams, meet at the beginning of the Bosnian war in Sarajevo. During their reports, the group find an orphanage run by the devoted Mrs. ...
Paramount+ - #17377
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
2024 · Movie · 1h 50mAction · Comedy
Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails reunite against a powerful new adversary, Shadow, a mysterious villain with powers unlike anything they have faced before. With their abilities outmatched, Team Sonic must seek out an unlikely alliance.
Paramount+Prime Video - #17677
Team America: World Police
2004 · Movie · 1h 38mAction · Comedy
Popular Broadway actor Gary Johnston is recruited by the elite counter-terrorism organization Team America: World Police. As the world begins to crumble around him, he must battle with terrorists, celebrities and falling in love.
Paramount+ - #18676
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+ - #18876

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+ - #19176
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+ - #19576

Nickelodeon GUTS
1992–1995 · Series · 1 seasonAction · Family
Three kids dawning the different colors blue, red, and purple compete in relatively cool-looking olympic-style games to achieve as many points as they can. At the end of every episode, they climb a big fake mountain, braving tumbl...
Paramount+ - #20375
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
2025 · Movie · 2h 49mAction · Thriller
Hunt and the IMF pursue a dangerous AI called the Entity that's infiltrated global intelligence. With governments and a figure from his past in pursuit, Hunt races to stop it from forever changing the world.
Paramount+Prime Video - #20475

CSI: NY
2004–2013 · Series · 9 seasonsAction · Crime · Drama
Second CSI spin off which follows the Crime Scene Investigator's (CSI's) of the New York Police Department (NYPD) as they use advanced forensic science to reveal the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths in New York C...
HuluParamount+ - #21574

Charlotte's Web
2006 · Movie · 1h 37mAction · Comedy · Family
Wilbur the pig is scared of the end of the season, because he knows that come that time, he will end up on the dinner table. He hatches a plan with Charlotte, a spider that lives in his pen, to ensure that this will never happen.
Paramount+ - #22074
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan
2009 · Movie · 1h 52mAction · Drama · Romance
When the initial Cylon attack against the Twelve Colonies fails to achieve complete extermination of human life as planned, twin Number Ones (Cavils) embedded on Galactica and Caprica must improvise to destroy the human survivors.
Paramount+ - #22673
Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan
2019 · Movie · 1h 58mAction · Drama · War
In August 1966, in a Vietnamese rubber plantation called Long Tan, 108 young and inexperienced Australian and New Zealand soldiers are fighting for their lives against 2500 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong soldiers.
Paramount+ - #22773
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+ - #22873
The Return
2024 · Movie · 1h 56mAction · Drama · History
After 20 years Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca, where he finds his wife held prisoner by suitors vying to be king and his son facing death at their hands. To win back his family and all he has lost, Odysseus must rediscover his...
Paramount+ - #23173
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+ - #24173
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+ - #24273

NCIS: New Orleans
2014–2021 · Series · 7 seasonsAction · Comedy
Follows a team of Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Special Agents who investigate criminal cases involving military personnel in New Orleans, Louisiana aka The Big Easy, a city known for its music, entertainment, and de...
Paramount+ - #24373
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 - #24473
The Salvation
2014 · Movie · Danish · 1h 32mAction · Drama · Thriller
In 1870s America, the fury of a notorious gang leader is unleashed when a peaceful American settler avenges the death of his family. Then as his cowardly fellow townspeople betray him, he is forced to hunt down the outlaws alone.
Paramount+ - #25572

Forbidden City Cop
1996 · Movie · Cantonese · 1h 29mAction · Comedy · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
An imperial agent gets ridiculed for his various inventions, until his supportive wife encourages him to attend a conference, which's actually a trap to kill all the doctors serving the emperor, where his crazy inventions come in ...
Paramount+ - #25672
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+ - #25872
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+ - #26072
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+ - #26572
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+ - #26872
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
1996–2003 · Series · 7 seasonsAction · Comedy
Sabrina is a normal teenager, except for one thing - she's a witch. Guided by her aunts, who come from a long line of witches, and Salem, a mischievous warlock doing penance as a cat, Sabrina continually struggles to harness her p...
HuluParamount+ - #27371
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+ - #28770
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+ - #28970

CSI: Miami
2002–2012 · Series · 10 seasonsAction · Crime · Drama
2 EmmysCSI spin-off, following an elite group of Crime Scene Investigators (CSIs) from the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), who use advanced forensic science and methods to solve complex crimes in cross-cultural Miami, Florida.
HuluParamount+ - #29369
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+ - #29869
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+ - #29969
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+ - #30069
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+ - #30569
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+ - #30969
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+ - #31069
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+ - #31369
Sonic the Hedgehog
2020 · Movie · 1h 39mAction · Comedy
Taking refuge on Earth, when Sonic uses his incredible speed and accidentally knock out the power in part of the United States, he catches the attention of Dr. Robotnik and must stop him from using his unique power for world domin...
Paramount+ - #31469

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+ - #31569
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...
Paramount+ - #32069
Ari Shaffir: Paid Regular
2015 · Movie · 1h 13mDocumentary · Comedy
Stand-up comic Ari Shaffir discusses inappropriate subjects like taking shrooms while camping, unusual new racial stereotypes, morning blowjobs, oddities of some of the ten commandments, and his profound hatred towards TSA.
Paramount+ - #32169
China's Emperor of Evil
2016 · Movie · 46mDocumentary
In China's Valley of the Kings, there stands a tall, carved stone. It honors the resting place of a woman named Wu Zetian, who rose from concubine to become China's only female emperor. For more than a millennia, history claimed s...
Paramount+ - #32869
Under the Dome
2013–2015 · Series · 3 seasonsDrama · Mystery · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
An invisible and mysterious force field descends upon the small town of Chester's Mill, Maine, USA, trapping residents inside, cut off from the rest of civilization. The trapped townspeople must discover the secrets and purpose of...
Paramount+ - #32969
Battle of Little Bighorn
2020 · Movie · 45mDocumentary · Action · Biography
The U.S. expands westward after the Civil War displacing the last of the free-roaming Native Americans onto Reservations. This show focuses special attention on General George A. Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn and Buf...
Paramount+ - #34768

Defiance
2008 · Movie · 2h 17mAction · Drama · History
Jewish brothers in German-occupied Eastern Europe escape into a Belorussian forest, where they join Russian resistance fighters, and endeavor to build a village, in order to protect themselves and about one thousand Jewish non-com...
Paramount+ - #35867

Gabrielle Union: My Journey to 50
2023– · Series · 1 seasonDocumentary
Celebrated actress Gabrielle Union is turning 50, and she's embarking on an adventure through four countries in Africa with her closest loved ones. On this journey she will experience the birthday bash of a lifetime.
Paramount+ - #37167
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
2022 · Movie · 2h 2mAction · Comedy
When Dr. Robotnik returns with a new partner, Knuckles, in search of an emerald that has the power to destroy civilizations, Sonic teams up with his own sidekick, Tails, on a journey across the world to find the emerald first.
NetflixParamount+ - #37667
NCIS: Sydney
2023– · Series · 3 seasonsAction · Crime
Follows a joint team of American Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) agents and Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers who work together to investigate crimes involving the Navy in and around the Indo-Pacific Ocean in Au...
Paramount+ - #38366
Bixler High Private Eye
2019 · Movie · 1h 6mAction · Comedy · Family
Xander is looking for his dad, who went missing 3 months ago. His mom sends him to stay with ex private dick grandpa in Bixler, where the next lead is. He teams up and investigates with his new high school's star reporter, Kenzie.
Paramount+ - #38466
Coldwater
2025– · Series · 1 seasonDrama · Mystery · Thriller
John moves his family to a rural town, befriends enigmatic neighbor Tommy hiding dark secrets. John's fascination with Tommy grows as wife Fiona becomes suspicious, leading to dangerous unraveling of hidden truths and repressed an...
Paramount+ - #38566
Four Letters of Love
2025 · Movie · 2h 5mDrama
Based on Niall Williams' best-selling novel. Nicholas and Isabel were made for each other but how will they ever know it? As ghosts, fate and the sheer power of true love pull them together, so too does life threaten to tear them ...
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