Paramount+ subscribers may have good reasons to be frustrated with the streamer. If you look at this month’s list of what’s new on Paramount+, you’ll find that many of the best movies are being withheld for the higher tier, Paramount+ with Showtime. That’s just not fair to regular subscribers, so our monthly list of three underrated movies on Paramount+ was chosen specifically from the titles that are available on all tiers.
For this month’s selections, we’ve picked an adaptation of a hit Broadway musical from the creator of Hamilton, one of Martin Scorsese’s more recent films, and a period drama that features a lot of familiar faces. These are the three underrated movies on Paramount+ that you need to watch in October.
In The Heights (2021)
What’s Warner Bros. big musical of 2021 doing on Paramount+? These corporate streaming deals are always confusing, but you won’t care when you’re singing along to In the Heights, the hit musical written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes. For the film adaptation, Anthony Ramos stars as Usnavi de la Vega, a bodega owner who gets the opportunity to take over his late father’s business in the Dominican Republic. And yet, Usnavi is also tempted to stay in Washington Heights because he’s in love with Vanessa (Scream VI‘s Melissa Barrera).
Meanwhile, Nina Rosario (Leslie Grace) is back from college and not eager to return despite the dreams of her father, Kevin (Jimmy Smits). However, the longer that Nina stays in the neighborhood, the more she realizes that she has to finish what she started. First, Nina will also have to deal with her relationship with Benny (Corey Hawkins). And they must all come together when the neighborhood needs them.
Watch In the Heights on Paramount+.
Silence (2016)
Martin Scorsese has done so many crime epics that it’s easy to forget that he also explores religion in a few of his movies. Silence takes place in 17th-century Japan, when Christian converts were forced to hide or deny their faith under threat of torture or even death. A Jesuit priest named Cristóvão Ferreira (Liam Neeson) is forced to personally witness the execution of Christians in Japan. A few years later, word emerges that Ferreira has renounced his faith, which leads his pupils, Sebastião Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Francisco Garupe (Adam Driver), to travel to Japan to learn if this is true.
However, the conditions in Japan are so tense that their guide, Kichijirō (Yōsuke Kubozuka), has to help keep the priests hidden from the authorities. Regardless, the priests can’t hide forever. And the faith of both men will be sorely tested during their ordeal. Even if their faith survives, they may not.
Watch Silence on Paramount+.
The Duchess (2008)
Keira Knightley sure seems to have a lot of period dramas under her belt, and The Duchess once again puts her at the forefront of a complicated romance. This movie is loosely based on the true story of Georgiana Cavendish (Keira Knightley), Duchess of Devonshire and an ancestor of the late Princess Diana of Wales.
In this film, Georgiana marries Duke William Cavendish (Ralph Fiennes) with the hope that they will have a lasting union together. But Georgiana’s hopes are dashed when the Duke begins having an affair with her best friend, Lady Elizabeth “Bess” Foster (Hayley Atwell). This leads Georgiana to have an affair of her own with Charles Grey (Dominic Cooper), which her husband refuses to tolerate. If Georgiana refuses to give up on her love with Charles, then she may lose everything she holds dear.
Watch The Duchess on Paramount+.
