7 Must-Watch Thrillers on Paramount+ Right Now (December 2025)

Paramount+ may not have the deepest film library among the streamers, but it can boast that it has some of the best thrillers ever made.

Fatal Attraction and Chinatown, both of which have been on Paramount+ before, are back on the streamer in December.

Both of those titles are strong contenders to be placed among the greatest thrillers of any era in Hollywood.

You can find those films below with the rest of the Watch With Us team’s picks for the must-watch thrillers on Paramount+.

‘Fatal Attraction’ (1987)

Fatal Attraction is widely credited with ushering in a wave of erotic thrillers in the late ’80s and ’90s. It also gave Glenn Close one of the most memorable roles of her career as Alex Forrest, a successful career woman who has an affair with her colleague, Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas). Unfortunately for Alex, Dan is a married man who ultimately loves his wife, Beth (Anne Archer), and their child far more than he could ever care for Alex.

Alex’s inability to deal with Dan’s rejection snaps her grasp on reality as she begins stalking him and his family. The only things Alex can think about are her wants and desires, and she uses increasingly violent acts in a desperate bid to claim Dan for herself. As Alex says in the movie, she won’t be ignored.

Fatal Attraction is streaming on Paramount+.

‘Chinatown’ (1974)

Although the 40th anniversary of Chinatown passed last year, the events of the film are set nearly 100 years ago in the 1930s. Director Roman Polanski outdid himself with this masterpiece, which he has never been able to top. Jack Nicholson stars as private investigator  J. J. “Jake” Gittes, and he doesn’t see anything suspicious when Evelyn Cross-Mulwray (the late Diane Ladd) hires him to spy on her husband, Hollis I. Mulwray (Darrell Zwerling).

Once Hollis turns up dead and the real Evelyn Cross-Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) emerges, Jake realizes that he’s been had. Someone orchestrated these events to discredit Hollis, but the mystery runs deeper than even Jake suspects. Jake is a good detective, but he’s up against something far bigger than he can handle on his own.

Chinatown is streaming on Paramount +.

‘No Country for Old Men’ (2010)

Joel and Ethan Coen made some great movies together during their partnership, but the Coen brothers’ best movie is their adaptation of Cormac McCarthy‘s No Country for Old Men. It’s one of the rare crime thrillers that’s truly surprising, and it takes a few turns that other films wouldn’t dare to try.

Josh Brolin stars as Llewelyn Moss, an ordinary man who makes the find of a lifetime: A briefcase full of drug money, his for the taking. Assuming he could get away with that was Moss’ first mistake. The mob has sent a hitman, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), to reclaim the money at all costs. Moss only thinks he’s a hard man, but he’s incapable of imagining the violence that Chigurh will unleash during his pursuit. Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) is in over his head trying to bring these two to justice, and that disturbs him.

No Country for Old Men is streaming on Paramount+.

‘Witness’ (1985)

Witness is an underrated thriller that turned 40 this year, but it remains a top-notch example of the genre. Harrison Ford plays John Book, a detective in the Philadelphia PD who takes the case of a young Amish boy, Samuel Lapp (Lukas Haas), who accidentally witnesses a murder. Book soon realizes that Samuel and his mother, Rachel Lapp (Kelly McGillis), are in grave danger from corrupt cops because of what her son saw.

After Book is seriously injured, he recuperates alongside Rachel and Samuel in the Amish community. Book and Rachel even feel romantic sparks, even as the corrupt police officials attempt to hunt them down and silence them. Book can’t hide with Rachel forever, and his way is not the Amish way.

Witness is streaming on Paramount+.

‘Red Eye’ (2005)

Considering the trajectory of their careers over the last two decades, director Wes Craven caught lightning in a bottle when he cast Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy as the leads in Red Eye. Murphy is particularly like a cinematic chameleon, as his character, Jackson Rippner, is so kind and charming to Lisa Reisert (McAdams). He’s the kind of guy she’d take home to meet her father, Joe (Brian Cox) — if Jackson hadn’t already sent an assassin to kill him first.

Much to Lisa’s horror, she learns that Jackson plans to use her father’s life to blackmail her into helping him pull off an act of domestic terrorism. Lisa finds herself stuck on an overnight flight with this sociopath watching her every move. If Lisa can’t get out from under Jackson’s control, then she’ll be an accessory to murder. But if she defies him, there’s no way she can warn her dad about the danger he’s in.

Red Eye is streaming on Paramount+.

‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ (1999)

Matt Damon was still early in his career when he was cast as Tom Ripley in The Talented Mr. Ripley. Despite the name of the movie, Tom’s only real talents lie in deception and in ingratiating himself among the rich and powerful. Tom even manages to convince Herbert Greenleaf (James Rebhorn) to send him to Europe to retrieve his wealthy and wayward son, Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law).

Although Dickie has a beautiful American girlfriend, Marge Sherwood (Gwyneth Paltrow), it’s Dickie himself who catches Tom’s eye. And let’s just say that Tom isn’t the kind of man who accepts rejection well. Instead, Tom lines up the con of a lifetime, but it’s going to take a lot to convince everyone that he’s Dickie, especially when dealing with the people who know the truth.

The Talented Mr. Ripley is streaming on Paramount+.

‘Basic Instinct’ (1992)

Over three decades ago, Basic Instinct took erotic thrillers to another level with Sharon Stone‘s showstopping turn as Catherine Tramell. She’s a successful crime novelist and also the prime suspect in the death of her rock star boyfriend. Catherine not only seems guilty as hell, but she also appears to delight in teasing the police about their inability to catch her.

SFPD Police Detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) makes several bad decisions while working on this case. First, he allows Catherine to seduce him while he was already having an affair with his psychologist, Dr. Beth Garner (Jeanne Tripplehorn). But Nick’s potentially fatal mistake may be letting Catherine get close enough to either destroy his personal life or kill him.

Basic Instinct is streaming on Paramount+.