Maze Runner was a wonderful movie series and is one of the better book-to-movie adaptations around. If you love the concept of this series, then you’ll love these movies like Maze Runner. The 2014 dystopian science fiction series was written in 2009 when dystopian novels were a hit, like Hunger Games and Divergent.
The first movie adaptation happened in 2014, following the story of Thomas who wakes up in a rusty elevator with no memory of who he is and why he’s there, only that he ends up in the middle of an intricate maze, along with many other boys, who have been trying to find their way out.
The only problem is that the maze is constantly changing, and there are dangers around every corner. It’s a thrilling series, both written and on the big screen, and these are the best movies like Maze Runner if you need more from the dystopian adventure genre.
6. Ready Player One, Prime Video (2018)
Ready Player One is a great example of movies like Maze Runner while still being unique in the genre. The 2018 science fiction action film is based on the novel by Ernest Cline of the same name and stars Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, and more.
The film is set in 2045 where humanity uses a virtual reality simulation called OASIS to escape the real world. When a teenage orphan finds clues to a contest that promises ownership of OASIS to the winner, he and his allies try to compete in it before the evil corporation can do so.
The trials and tribulations in the film, and the puzzles that they have to figure out can be compared to the Maze Runner but in a totally different and unique setting, making it one of the best recommendations.
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5. The Escape Room, Hulu (2019)
One of the newest examples in the genre, and one of the great movies like Maze Runner, is Escape Room. While Maze Runner is targeted at teenagers and isn’t seen as a horror film, this 2019 psychological horror movie is a great recommendation if you want something that thrills you.
Starring Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Deborah Ann Woll, and Tyler Labine, the movie follows a group of people who have to navigate through a series of dead escape rooms. This is incredibly similar to Maze Runner due to the dangers of the maze, with it constantly shifting and changing, and every little thing can be used as a trap.
The Escape Room really plays with the idea that one wrong move can send you to your death, which is both horrifying and exciting for many viewers.
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4. Cube, Prime Video (1997)
Cube is the oldest movie on the list of best movies like Maze Runner but it is still a must-see. The 1997 Canadian science fiction horror-thriller movie stars Nicole de Boer, Nicky Guadagni, David Hewlett, Andrew Miller, and more. The movie gained quite a cult following and even was the inspiration for a few remakes later on.
The movie features six different people, each from very different backgrounds, who awaken to find themselves in a giant cube with thousands of possible rooms. Each has a skill that becomes clear to work through the puzzles and must band together to escape it. This is incredibly similar to the movie, so much so that maybe James Dashner, the author of Maze Runner, might have gotten some inspiration from this film.
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3. Enders Game, Netflix (2013)
One of the best movies like Maze Runner is Ender’s Game, a 2013 military science fiction action film adapted from Orson Scott Card’s 1985 book. Instead of a dystopian world that can be seen in the science fiction genre, this movie is set in the future when the world is preparing for alien invasions by the Formics, who seem to be determined to destroy humanity completely.
Similar to the Maze Runner where children are being tested, Ender’s Game selects gifted children to advance through military academy in space to prepare for the invasions.
Ender’s Game focuses on Ender Wiggin, who is recruited to the academy. It’s heavy with action, similar to Maze Runner, and also highlights the potential fall of humanity itself, similar to Maze Runner with the infection that they’re trying to cure.
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2. Divergent, Netflix (2014)
For many readers back in the late 2000s, The Hunger Games, Divergent, and Maze Runner were the holy grail of dystopian fiction. So it’s only fair that Divergent is on the list of best movies like Maze Runner. The 2014 book-to-movie adaptation stars Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ashley Judd, Jai Courtney, Ray Stevenson, Ansel Elgort, and more. The film takes place in a post-apocalyptic world focused on Chicago where people are divided into distinct factions based on each individual’s virtues.
Upon taking the test to figure out her faction, Tris is told that she is Divergent, meaning she doesn’t fit into any of the factions. Being Divergent is incredibly dangerous and could lead to her death, however, she hides it and joins the most dangerous faction out of them all, the Dauntless, and starts to learn that there are secrets within the society that need to be exposed.
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1. The Hunger Games, Prime Video (2012)
Similar to Divergent, it would be wrong to not include this dystopian classic. The Hunger Games franchise also started with a book. The 2012 film is the first installment and has similar themes of being trapped somewhere and having to survive.
In this world, however, you don’t lose your memory. Katniss Everdeen lives in Panem, which is divided into 12 districts and a Capital. Following the Marxist theory, the Hunger Games portrays the Capital as the elite class, or the bourgeois, that profits through the 12 districts that are the working class, or proletariat.
Each year two individuals from each class are selected to join a brutal game in retribution for a past rebellion, where only one out of the 24 participants is left standing. This is one of the best movies like Maze Runner as it’s a constant fight for survival, a puzzle, and a dystopian world being forced upon children.