I love watching movies and I love making mazes. You might not think so, but there is a good amount of overlap between the two. Mazes have been popping up as plot devices in movies since they were first being made. Want to create tension for your characters ? Get them lost in a maze being chased by a villain. Sometimes characters need a challenge to overcome to get to their destination, so how about solving a puzzle or series of puzzles like a maze. When I set out to compile a list of maze movies I never realized how great the movies would actually be. I think you’ll agree. For a sortable spreadsheet of all the movies containing mazes and labyrinths that I have reviewed on this site (there are over 120), here is the link to the google sheet.
Here are my top 18 favorite movies containing mazes (IN RANDOM ORDER):
1 . Ready Player One (2018) IMDB
Steven Spielberg directed this great movie from the best selling book. In the year 2045 a virtual reality world called the OASIS can be won by the person who can find a series of Easter Eggs hidden in the virtual world. To find the Easter Eggs you need to solve puzzles using details about pop culture from the past (our present). With cameos by over 120 characters this movie is one you can watch again and again and never see all the hidden cameos. Oh, and did you notice the Ready Player One logo is a MAZE ! You start from the initial R and work your way to the center of the O.
Ready Player One Logo Maze
2. Inception (2010) IMDB
At the time of this writing this is the highest rated Science-Fiction movie of all-time on IMDB. A group of thieves go into dreams to steal corporate ideas from the minds of people. This time they need to plant an idea in a CEO’s head during a dream (what they call an inception). To do this they will need to circumvent the maze of subconscious dream worlds they’ve created - a dream world within a dream world within a dream world. Sounds like that will be easy to execute. And the ending !!!
3. The Shining (1980) IMDB
One of the best horror movies of all time is also one of the best movies of all time. Stanley Kubrick as the director of a Stephen King best selling book with Jack Nicholson as the lead character….Yes please ! A writer takes a job as a caretaker of a secluded hotel that is closed for the Winter with his wife and young son joining him. Oh, did I mention the hotel is also haunted ? As the writer’s mental state deteriorates, his wife and son try to leave but he won’t let them. Can they escape a secluded hotel in the middle of winter ? I would try using the hedge maze outside….just a thought. If you want to explore the symbolism in the film check out the documentary Room 237.
4. Prisoners (2013) IMDB
A man (Hugh Jackman) tries to hunt down his 6 year old daughter and her friend who have been abducted. As he gets closer to the suspected abductor he finds a man obsessed with making mazes (I do not support this premise). Can he find the children in time to keep them safe ? A really tense thriller I highly recommend.
5. Cube (1997) IMDB
6 strangers wake-up in a giant cube shaped maze that is bobby trapped and trying to kill them. They don’t know why they are there or how they got there but they know they need to try and escape. Are they making the right or wrong choice as they choose each passageway ? Only one way to find out. Now this is some maze horror !
6. The Maze Runner (2014) IMDB
So you wake up with no memory of your past trapped with others just like you in an enclosed environment. Well, not completely enclosed. There is a maze surrounding you patrolled by cyborgs you need to go thru to escape. You get the chance to solve the maze each morning when a large door opens. That same door closes each night, and if you get stuck in the maze overnight, you die. You don’t know why you’re there or who put you there. Escaping the maze seems like the right move…run.
7. Labyrinth (1986) IMDB
Jim Henson, Lucasfilm and David Bowie collaborated on this fantasy movie. A teenage girl is angrily babysitting her younger baby brother and wishes he would be taken away. The Goblin King grants the wish and takes the brother. Her only way to get him back is to solve a Labyrinth in 13 hours or her brother will permanently become a goblin in this weird fantasy world. Includes a wonderful tribute to MC Escher.
8. The Collection (2012) IMDB
After escaping from a serial killer known as The Collector a man is sent back to the serial killer’s hideout to rescue a kidnapped girl. The only problem is that hideout is a booby trapped maze he needs to get thru to save the girl. Can he save her in time ? Another nice horror maze movie.
9. Dave Made A Maze (2017) IMDB
Dave builds a cardboard fort in his living room. It looks small from the outside, but once you enter it gets much, much larger. Dave gets lost. Dave’s friends join him against his advice to stay outside. Now everyone is lost. To return to civilization they need to band together and escape the cardboard maze. You haven’t seen this, and maybe you don’t THINK you want to see this, BUT YOU NEED TO SEE THIS. Destined to be a cult classic circa 2035. Possibly 2037.
10. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) IMDB
In 1944 Spain a young girl escapes a world at war by escaping into a fantasy world at the center of a secret underground labyrinth. The girl meets a faun (totally normal) who takes her to the center of the labyrinth. She learns she can become an immortal princess in this fantasy world but must prove herself first by completing 3 tasks. Winner of 3 Oscars and over 100 movie awards.
11. The Lady From Shanghai (1947) IMDB
Rita Hayworth plays a vixen that gets director/actor Orson Welles mixed up in a murder plot in this film-noir classic. They find themselves caught in a fun-house mirror maze in a key plot moment that involves gunshots…if they can find what they are shooting at ! One of the few maze films that involves a funhouse mirror maze but is not a horror film.
12. The Man With The Golden Gun (1974) IMDB
The ninth James Bond film. A professional assassin with a golden gun charges a million dollars per kill. He trains against other assassins in a room that is set-up like a fun-house, including multiple mirror mazes (and in the opening sequence !). Can Bond find him and spoil his current plot ?
13. Us (2019) IMDB
Jordan Peele knows how to make an interesting horror film. A young girl wanders off from the amusement park on the beach and enters a deserted fun house. When the lights go out she tries to exit, but the mirror maze makes it difficult for her to find her way. Oh, and so does the girl in the mirror. And that’s when you know this thing is about to get sinister.
14. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) IMDB
A young boy is born with a sense of smell more powerful than anyone in human history. With it he obsessively works to create the perfect perfume. Unfortunately, that includes some secret ingredients that are against the law. Of course, he finds some of these ingredients when they are lost in a hedge maze. It gets very weird multiple times at the end, but you can’t say it’s something you’ve seen before !
15. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) IMDB
The fourth Harry Potter movie/book. At one point Harry and his other competitors(champions) in the Triwizard Tournament are stuck in a hedge maze for part 3 of the tournament. A very active hedge maze that seems to be alive. Harry must escape to move forward.
16. The Maze (1953) IMDB
The film deserves to be included despite being of slightly lower quality than the other movies for 2 main reasons: 1) The title is The Maze so it definitely qualifies 2) The movie starts with shots of the hedge maze that is central to the entire story. That story is of a Scotsman who moves into a castle that has an adjoining hedge maze. There is only one rule for the maze - do not enter it. Which means of course you are going to enter it. I’m sure everything will be fine…right ? You can give it a watch here.
17. Muppets from Space (1999) IMDB
Not the best Muppet film, but this one is led by Gonzo instead of Kermit and the main supporting actor…uh…supporting Muppet is Rizzo the Rat. Now during a key scene Rizzo gets captured by the bad guys and gets put into a cage with lab rats. I should have said Spoiler before that. My Bad. Anyway the lab rats are put into a rat maze during the next scene.
18. It Chapter 2 (2019) IMDB
The newest movie on the list. The Losers Club is called home 27 years after their encounter with Pennywise in Derry, Maine. He seems to be in a very bad mood. Eventually we have a few characters stuck in a fun-house mirror maze with the sadistic clown Pennywise. And things get intense. Running in a mirror maze is a BAD IDEA.
Now if you are like me, and you probably aren’t, because we are all different and special in our own way. Anyway, If you are like me you are going to head to your local library to check these out for free. At the time of this writing a few of these are available to stream online. My favorite site to check what is streaming where is Justwatch. Now, make some popcorn and sit back and enjoy the show ! Want to know what the best maze movie posters are ? I’ve got you covered !
