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5 new to Paramount Plus movies with 90% or higher on Rotten Tomatoes
Paramount Plus is heating up with a new lineup of movies for June 2025, and it’s an exciting mix, including several acclaimed movies across a variety of genres.
Paramount Plus is on our list of the best streaming services, thanks to its library stocked with classic movies. And more arrive on the platform every month.
After combing through the latest releases on Paramount Plus, I’ve found five with serious critical clout, i.e., each has earned a 90% or higher rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Granted, that’s a score made up of subjective opinions, but it’s still a useful baseline for gauging a movie’s overall reception.
Among the top picks are a history-making Best Picture winner, a bittersweet romantic drama that was “Dune” star Timothée Chalamet’s breakout role, and one of Quentin Tarantino’s best films to date.
So, without further ado, here are the five top movies new to Paramount Plus to watch in June 2025.
’12 Years a Slave’ (2013)
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Based on the real-life story of professional violinist Solomon Northup, “12 Years a Slave” made history at the Oscars when Steve McQueen became the first Black director to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
“12 Years a Slave” stands as one of the most powerful and unflinching portrayals of American slavery ever put to film. Anchored by outstanding performances from Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, and an unforgettable turn by Lupita Nyong’o, the film is far from easy viewing, but it is essential.
It follows Northup (Ejiofor), a free Black man living in New York and earning a living as a musician. His life is shattered when he’s deceived by two white men who abduct him and sell him into slavery in Louisiana. What follows is a harrowing 12-year ordeal marked by brutality and dehumanization. Yet through it all, Solomon holds on to his dignity, his resilience, and the hope that he will one day regain his freedom.
Genre: History/Drama/Biography
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%
Stream it now on Paramount Plus
‘Call Me by Your Name’ (2018)
Another “Best Picture” nominee, “Call Me by Your Name” is the final chapter in director Luca Guadagnino’s “Desire” trilogy. It centers on the emotional and romantic awakening of 17-year-old Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet) during the summer of 1983 in northern Italy, as he develops a secretive relationship with Oliver (Armie Hammer), a 24-year-old graduate student of his father.
While this isn’t one to watch if you like love stories with happy endings, the dynamic between Elio and Oliver is both heart-wrenching and beautiful, capturing the bittersweet longing and intensity of one’s first love. “Call Me by Your Name’s” messy, open-ended conclusion and its brutally honest portrayal of desire are devastating in a way that feels deeply human.
Genre: Romance/Drama/LGBTQ+
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%
Stream it now on Paramount Plus
‘BlacKkKlansman’ (2018)
![BLACKkKLANSMAN - Official Trailer [HD] - In Theaters August 10 - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/pFc6I0rgmgY/maxresdefault.jpg)
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It took 30 years, but Spike Lee finally won his first Oscar with “BlacKkKlansman,” the third Best Picture nominee on this list. Inspired by a real-life story, it follows Black police detective Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) on a mission to infiltrate a local Ku Klux Klan chapter with the help of a white officer (Adam Driver) in 1970s Colorado Springs.
Lee skillfully balances sharp wit with the gravity of the film’s heavier themes regarding systemic racism both then and now, weaving humor into a deeply serious narrative without ever undermining its weight. “BlacKkKlansman” highlights Lee’s unique ability to defy genre conventions, and with standout performances from its two leads, it delivers a striking message of resistance and solidarity in the face of entrenched injustice. A message that’s just as important now as it was when the film debuted in 2018.
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Crime
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%
Stream it now on Paramount Plus
‘Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark’ (1981)
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The first four “Indiana Jones” movies landed on Paramount Plus this month, but if you had to pick just one to watch, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” is the clear choice. With its timeless blend of swashbuckling adventure and cinematic charm, it set the gold standard for the genre. Few films capture the sheer thrill of Indie’s first adventure.
Set in 1936, the film follows American archaeologist Indiana Jones (played by Harrison Ford in one of his most iconic roles) as he uncovers a Nazi plot to find the Ark of the Covenant, believed by Hitler to hold supernatural powers that’ll make the German army invincible. The U.S. Army asks Jones to beat the Führer to the punch, and he sets off on a globe-trotting mission with his former flame Marion (Karen Allen) with thrilling stops in Cairo, the Aegean Sea, and beyond to keep the Ark out of enemy hands.
Genre: Adventure/Action
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94%
Stream it now on Paramount Plus
‘Reservoir Dogs’ (1992)
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Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs” is a heist movie without a heist, and that’s kind of the genius of it. By withholding the details of how a job went sideways, Tarantino puts the audience in the same disoriented, suspicious headspace as the criminals at the center of the movie’s nonlinear narrative.
The movie follows eight strangers brought together to pull off a heist that goes to hell in a handbasket when the police show up almost instantly, resulting in a violent shootout that leaves two of the robbers dead.
The survivors regroup at their designated hideout, where it quickly becomes clear that one of them must’ve tipped off the cops. As suspicion spreads and paranoia sets in, Tarantino and the incredible ensemble cast — which includes Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Lawrence Tierney, and Steve Buscemi — turn over an hour of a bunch of guys pointing fingers and cursing up a storm in an empty warehouse into a tightly written showdown filled with sharp dialogue, rising dread, and the director’s signature flair.
Genre: Crime/Drama
Rotten Tomatoes score: 90%
Stream it now on Paramount Plus
