The 2020 western film High Ground has topped the streaming charts five years after its theatrical release. Westerns have seen a resurgence in recent years on both the big and small screens, with Yellowstone and other Taylor Sheridan TV shows riding a pop culture wave of popularity. On the big screen, High Ground, a historical western, was released to rave reviews and multiple Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award (AACTA) nominations.
High Ground may have originally been released five years ago, but it’s finally drawing a wider audience thanks to streaming services. As of December 4, 2025, the film is No. 1 on Paramount+’s global movies chart.
Rounding out the Top 10 are El arte de las ocho extremidades, Humane, Night Hunter, The Last Stand of Ellen Cole, Jack Reacher, Here After, Mean Girls (2004), Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and World War Z.
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Paramount+ Top 10 Global Movies Chart (December 4, 2025) |
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1. High Ground |
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2. El arte de las ocho extremidades |
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3. Humane |
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4. Night Hunter |
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5. The Last Stand of Ellen Cole |
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6. Jack Reacher |
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7. Here After |
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8. Mean Girls (2004) |
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9. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning |
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10. World War Z |
High Ground is currently the top movie on Paramount+ in multiple countries around the world, including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, El Salvador, Uruguay and Venezuela.
The movie may be a global hit on Paramount+’s chart, but High Ground is not actually available to watch in the United States on this particular streaming service. Instead, U.S.-based film buffs can watch the western drama on Prime Video, Tubi, The Roku Channel and Kanopy.
Meanwhile, the top TV shows on Paramount+’s global chart for December 4 are South Park, Tulsa King, Yellowstone, Landman, Mayor of Kingstown, SpongeBob SquarePants, NCIS, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, The King of Queens and Criminal Minds.
High Ground, which takes place in the early 1990s in Australia, centers on Travis, a former sniper who becomes a police officer. Years after he witnessed a horrifying tribal massacre, he meets a survivor of the slaughter, and the two set out to right the wrongs of the past. The cast includes Jacob Junior Nayinggul, Simon Baker, Callan Mulvey, Jack Thompson, Caren Pistorius, Ryan Corr, Aaron Pedersen, Sean Mununggurr, Witiyana Marika and Esmerelda Marimowa.
The Stephen Maxwell Johnson-directed movie is considered a revisionist story. Other revisionist westerns include Dances with Wolves, Django Unchained and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
The movie premiered at several film festivals in Berlin, Brisbane and Adelaide throughout 2020 before a wider theatrical release in early 2021.
Critics gave High Ground overwhelming praise and a Rotten Tomatoes score of 90% (and an audience score of 77%), with reviews calling the story “gripping” with a “sobering” message about colonialism.
Not only was it a hit with critics, but High Ground also earned several AACTA nominations, including Best Film, Best Actor (Baker and Nayinggul), Best Supporting Actor (Mununggurr and Thompson), Best Supporting Actress (Esmerelda Marimowa), Best Direction, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Editing. The film ended up winning in the Best Costume Design category.
After reaching a limited audience back in 2020 and 2021, Paramount+ has given the critical darling a chance to shine in a brand-new way. Paramount and Madman Films likely hope that current audiences find High Ground just as captivating as critics did five years ago.
- Release Date
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February 23, 2020
- Runtime
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104 minutes
- Director
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Stephen Johnson
- Writers
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Chris Anastassiades
- Producers
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Maggie Miles, David Jowsey, Greer Simpkin
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Jacob Junior Nayinggul
Gutjuk
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