7 Best New Movies on Paramount+ in July 2021

One of the latest newcomers to the ever-more crowded field of media giant streaming service, Paramount+ is slowly but steadily ramping up to be a must-watch streamer. With an ever-growing library of Paramount films, beloved series like Star Trek and The Good Fight, and the promise of high-profile originals to come, Paramount+ might not be on your radar yet, but it’s one to keep an eye on. And July brings one of the first major early exclusive streaming titles with the arrival of A Quiet Place 2, just 45 days after it arrived in theaters. As of July 13, the film is now available to stream for all Paramount+ subscribers, and it’s far from the only film on the service worth checking out, so to help you figure out to watch without getting lost in the eternal scroll, we’ve got you covered with a list of the best new movies on Paramount+ this month.

Aside from the promise of flashy new titles, there’s also a pretty healthy library of hidden gems and old favorites, and among the ones that arrived on Paramount+ this month, highlights include action classics like RoboCop, classics like Cinema Paradiso, and if A Quiet Place has you in the mood for more horror, 28 Days Later and the underrated wildcard action-horror Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.

Check out the details on all our picks for the best new movies streaming on Paramount+ in July below.

Table of Contents

A Quiet Place Part II

a-quiet-place-2-cast — Image via Paramount Pictures

Director/Writer: John Krasinski

Cast: Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Cillian Murphy, Djimon Hounsou, Scoot McNairy

This month’s big-name release on Paramount+, the horror sequel was one of the early post-COVID-shutdown films to bring audiences back to theaters in droves, and now you can watch it at home. Following up on his 2018 breakout hit A Quiet Place, John Krasinski returns to the super silent alien apocalypse with A Quiet Place: Part II. Following the attack on the family homestead in the first film, the sequel expands the scope and explores the world by following Emily Blunt‘s Evelyn and her children, Regan (Millicent Simmonds) and Marcus (Noah Jupe) as they venture out in search of somewhere to survive the silent wasteland of the earth – with a newborn baby in tow. The core concept of a survival movie wherein the characters couldn’t speak or make noise was part of the hook that sunk into audiences with the first film, but Part II rises above the appeal of the gimmick with a more active, story-forward approach, and perhaps even more unflinching commitment to the peril the Abbott family faces. It’s a hell of a sequel that proves further proves Krasinski’s talents as a filmmaker as much as it demonstrates the potential for A Quiet Place to turn into an enduring franchise. With a spinoff film on the way from Midnight Special and Take Shelter filmmaker Jeff Nichols, I can’t wait to see how the world continues to expand and evolve, and to see how another gifted filmmaker approached the challenge of the inherent hook. And not for nothing, this one might have my favorite opening scene of any movie in 2021 so far.

28 Days Later

Director: Danny Boyle

Writer: Alex Garland

Cast: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Christopher Eccleston, Megan Burns

If A Quiet Place: Part II has you in the mood for more Cillian Murphy battling monsters in the apocalypse, 28 Days Later is the movie for you. Zombies have been a favorite of fear-seeking filmgoers ever since George Romero changed the game with his 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead. But for the most part, the undead, the walking dead, the living dead, or whatever you preferred to call the cannibalistic creatures, they more or less played by the same rules. Enter Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later, the early 2000s apocalypse horror that played a massive role in reviving the zombie genre for a new generation of audiences long before The Walking Dead took over TV. 28 Days Later wasn’t the first movie to do fast zombies, but it was definitely the movie that popularized it, and in the context of Boyle’s nightmare plague, it totally worked.

With a script by Ex Machina and Annihilation filmmaker Alex Garland, 28 Days Later reimagined the zombie apocalypse, not as the undead, but contorting, flesh-craving human beings infected by pure rage. Boyle’s frantic camerawork, Garland’s nihilistic world-building, and an exceptional ensemble led by Cillian Murphy, Naomi Harris, and Brendan Gleeson created a terrifying update on the apocalyptic world where everything can change, violently, in an instant – whether it’s the heads of the infected snapping up when they spot their next prey or the sudden transformation of a loved one who just happened to look up at the exact wrong time. (No, I’m still not over it and I’ll never be over it.) 28 Days Later rules, holds up crazy well, and it’s easy to see why Boyle’s genre-bending film helped re-light the spark beneath the zombie craze that’s still going strong nearly 20 years later. Paramount + also has the sequel 28 Weeks Later, a pretty great followup that lacks a bit in logic, but delivers plenty of rage-infected chaos and genuinely unsettling horror.

Cinema Paradiso

Director/Writer: Giuseppe Tornatore

Cast: Philippe Noiret, Jacques Perrin, Antonella Attili, Pupella Maggio, Salvatore Cascio

Cinema Paradiso is a love letter to the art of film in all its forms, from filmmaking to the now all-but-extinct craft of film projection, and of course, the way a love of movies can make life itself feel more full of art and wonder. Set throughout multiple periods in the life of Salvatore Di Vita as he explores his love of cinema while the world and film itself changes around him, the film takes us back to post World War II Italy, where young Salvatore soaks up ever moment of the movies he can at the local theater, Cinema Paradiso. Eventually, the projectionist teaches him how to cut film and run the projectors, only increasing the child’s fervent fascination with the movies, shaping the course of his life.

There’s a lot to love about Cinema Paradiso as a sprawling character drama, but when I think about my favorite parts of the film, I always go back to those childhood scenes and Salvatore’s infectious enthusiasm for film in every form. Maybe it’s because projection has become such a lost art with the rise of digital technology, but the focus on theatrical presentation, projection, and communal filmgoing as a craft and essential component of the cinematic experience is a powerful reminder about the breadth of ways movies touch our lives – and that the matter of who frames (or censors) our stories can be just as important as the stories being told and who tells them.

Jack Reacher

Director/Writer: Christopher McQuarrie

Cast: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Werner Herzog, Richard Jenkins, Jai Courtney, Robert Duvall

Tom Cruise may not be the Jack Reacher that book fans imagined, but dang do he and Christopher McQuarrie make some great action movies together, so if you dismissed this one due to the initial blowback, it’s one I strongly recommend watching on its own terms. Inspired by Lee Child‘s beloved ass-kicking, crime-solving character, the 2012 action-thriller follows Cruise’s Reacher as he investigates a military sniper who shot down five random, unsuspecting victims. McQuarrie’s action is as clean and elegant as ever, and Cruise once again proves himself an all-time great action actor, channeling his old-school movie star charm and often under-celebrated bonafide acting skills into a gripping crime thriller led by his righteous if sometimes blood-thirsty drifter. If that’s not enough to sell you, filmmaking legend Werner Herzog appears to be having the time of his life as the film’s villain, a truly inspired casting choice from McQuarrie and a one-of-a-kind, well-savored performance from Herzog that’s worth the watch all on its own.

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

hansel-and-gretel-gemma-arterton-jeremy-renner — Image via Paramount Pictures

Director/Writer: Tommy Wirkola

Cast: Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Famke Janssen, Peter Stormare, Derek Mears, Pihla Viitala

Forget what you may have heard about this wild 2013 horror-tinged fairy tale adaptation, if you have a taste for over-the-top action, practical effects and creative world-building, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is well worth the watch. Directed by Dead Snow helmer Tommy Wirkola, the film reimagines the fairy tale characters (played by Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton) as famed witch hunters in a land overrun by monstrous, murderous witches. Decades after their childhood encounter with the witch in the candy house, they find themselves at war with the Grand Witch (Famke Janssen) and her coven, who plan to sacrifice 12 children during a Blood Moon ritual. It’s a bloody, bonkers adventure jam-packed with practical effects, including a genuinely stunning and emotionally engaging troll named Edward, played with equal parts brute and sensitivity by creature-performing great Derek Mears. Renner often feels like he’s an out-of-place straight man in this chaotic universe and there’s no denying the middle act is a bit of a slog, but the worthwhile qualities more than outweigh the underwhelming ones, from the stunning effects work to Wirkola’s kinetic command of his blood-soaked, high-intensity action scenes, to the lovely friendship between Gretel and Edward. It’s a film I revisit more than most, and it’s always a wild, good time.

RoboCop

Director: Paul Verhoeven

Writers: Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner

Cast: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer, Robert DoQui, Ray Wise

Nobody does hyper-violent action satire like Paul Verhoeven, and RoboCop is one of his best. Peter Weller stars as a cop killed in the line of duty who is resurrected at the behest of a mega-corporation and repurposed as a cyborg crime-fighter who doles out merciless mercenary justice. RoboCop is as bloody and outrageous as it is wry and quick-witted in its takedown over corporate overstep, unchecked capitalism, and perverted justice. It takes a filmmaker like Verhoeven to balance the tricky tonal shifts and deliver a film that works as an action-packed romp while also prodding at much darker, deeper questions. Paramount+ is getting RoboCop 1-3 this month, so you can also settle in for a franchise binge if you want, but it’s the 1987 original that’s an absolute must-watch.

Romeo + Juliet

romeo-and-juliet-1996 — Image via 20th Century Fox

Director: Baz Luhrmann

Writers: Craig Pearce and Baz Luhrmann

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, Brian Dennehy, John Leguizamo, Pete Postlethwaite, Paul Sorvino, Diane Venora

Forget the Film Twitter feuds and trending tirades – whether you’re looking for a nostalgia trip or a one-of-a-kind Shakespeare adaptation, Romeo + Juliet truly delivers. Despite the contemporary setting and striking stylized choices, Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 take on the classic tale of doomed lovers remains one of the most faithful and thoughtful cinematic adaptations out there, and not just because they keep the old-timey dialogue. Delivering some of the best of his signature dazzling aesthetic, Luhrmann’s adaptation not only captures the dizzying swoons of first love, he embraces the full scope of Shakespeare’s tragedy of warring powerful families for all its violent consequences.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes are radiant as the iconic lovebirds, but the ensemble is also full of standout supporting performances, from John Leguizamo’s rageful warpath as Tybalt to Harold Perrineau’s scene-stealing work as the exuberant Mercutio. As a literary adaptation and cinematic experience alike, Romeo + Juliet is vibrant, coursing with life, and a testament to the endless potential of retelling classic stories.

KEEP READING: