In the dystopian future depicted in Maze Runner, the world has been transformed into a maze. Thomas, the main character, must escape and rescue the planet. This movie has plenty of action and is thrilling and suspenseful.
Movies like Maze Runner are often described as gripping, suspenseful movies that keep the audience on the edge of their seats. In several movies, a group of people must cooperate to live, often in a strange and dangerous setting.
The characters are often regular people who must deal with exceptional situations, and the plot frequently centers on their desire to flee a dangerous position.
You’ll be entertained from start to finish with these movies, which are ideal for lovers of intense action and suspense.
The top movies like Maze Runner to watch are listed below.
1. Cube (1997)
- Director: Vincenzo Natali
- Star cast: Nicole de Boer, Maurice Dean Wint, David Hewlett, Andrew Miller, Nicky Guadagni, Julian Richings, and Wayne Robson
- IMDb rating: 7.2/10
The storyline of Cube is reminiscent of The Maze Runner. A group of people finds themselves in a setting that resembles a labyrinth in both movies. No gang members know how they arrived or how to get out.
The movie garnered much attention for its thrilling plot and top-notch performances. Due to the movie’s success, two sequels, Cube 2: Hypercube and Cube Zero, were produced.
David Hewlett, Maurice Dean Wint, and Nicole de Boer are among the cast members. The movie looks and feels claustrophobic, thanks to director Vincenzo Natali.
2. Battle Royale (2000)
- Director: Kinji Fukasaku
- Star cast: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Tarô Yamamoto, Chiaki Kuriyama, Takashi Tsukamoto, Sôsuke Takaoka, and Yukihiro Kotani
- IMDb rating: 7.6/10
The movie’s setting is a crumbling Japanese civilization in which the country’s youth are becoming obnoxious juvenile offenders.
To control them, the government passes the BR Act, which requires a group of students to engage in a yearly Battle Royale in which they must battle to the death.
The following year, a middle school class is chosen randomly and transferred to an island to participate in the game.
Their previous teacher Kitano, who quit in despair after his students stopped attending his courses and one of them cut him with a knife, would be watching over them there.
The children in Battle Royale create alliances, engage in conflict, and devise plans of action to overcome their predicament, much like the children in The Maze Runner.
This features frightening levels of brutality, unlike the children in The Maze Runner. The gore never stops as they perish in gruesome ways.
Despite the destruction, the students still find time for usual adolescent activities like professing affection and pledging their allegiance to friends.
It’s a creepy story with a blend of dramatic tension, surprising comedy, and wonderfully shot action, making it one of the worth seeing movies like Maze Runner.
3. The Host (2013)
- Director: Andrew Niccol
- Star cast: Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons, Jake Abel, Diane Kruger, Rachel Roberts, Shyaam Karra, and Brent Wendell Williams
- IMDb rating: 5.8/10
The dystopian future depicted in movies like Maze Runner takes on a more romantic tone in The Host. The movie shows a planet on which a parasitic extraterrestrial species has enslaved humanity. Only people with a viral infection can fight off the aliens.
One such resistance fighter called, Melanie’s battle against the aliens is the subject of the TV movie The Host. The plot was on point and successfully told the narrative of a teenage protagonist trying to overcome obstacles.
4. The Village (2004)
- Director: M. Night Shyamalan
- Star cast: Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Joaquin Phoenix, Bryce Dallas Howard, Adrien Brody, Brendan Gleeson, and Cherry Jones
- IMDb rating: 6.6/10
In the movie, The Village, a little town in the middle of nowhere is shown to be surrounded by woods. Everyone living in the village must abide by a strict set of rules, one of which is not to leave the community.
Joaquin Phoenix, Sigourney Weaver, and Adrien Brody are all part of the cast. The movie, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, flopped at the box office. The movie is quite good and a good choice for everyone who enjoys tense thrillers.
5. The Hunger Games (2012)
- Director: Gary Ross
- Star cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley, Willow Shields, and Elizabeth Banks
- IMDb rating: 7.2/10
The Hunger Games is one of the amazing movies like Maze Runner. It is a 2012 American science fiction action movie based on the Suzanne Collins book of the same name. Gary Ross served as the director of the first movie in The Hunger Games series.
Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland are the cast members.
In the movie, a dystopian society has teens from each of its twelve districts participating in living, televised combat to the death.
Lawrence’s character, Katniss Everdeen, offers to participate in the games instead of her younger sister.
When she comes up against highly skilled Tributes, she is forced to depend on her instincts and the guidance of inebriated former winner Haymitch Abernathy.
6. In Time (2011)
- Director: Andrew Niccol
- Star cast: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, Olivia Wilde, Shyloh Ostwald, Johnny Galecki, and Colin McGurk
- IMDb rating: 6.7/10
A science fiction movie from 2011 with Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, Olivia Wilde, and Alex Pettyfer in the lead roles, In Time, was directed by Andrew Niccol.
In the future depicted in the movie, people may buy immortality by uploading their minds into a virtual environment.
Will Salas, the main character, discovers that the world he has been living in is not quite what it first seems to be.
In contrast to its $50 million budget, In Time only made $36 million at the box office. Critics gave the movie a largely positive review, praising the performances and special effects.
7. Divergent (2014)
- Director: Neil Burger
- Star cast: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Jai Courtney, Ashley Judd, Ray Stevenson, and Zoë Kravitz
- IMDb rating: 6.6/10
Based on Veronica Roth’s book of the same name, Divergent imagines a post-apocalyptic Chicago where people are split into five factions according to the virtue they most strongly demonstrate.
Tris takes the test required of every 16-year-old. However, she learns that she doesn’t cleanly fit into any one faction, even though she was born into Abnegation (the selfless group that controls the government).
She is Divergent because of this. Her tester does, however, caution her not to share her findings with anybody since the government views people with independent minds like her as threats. Divergent is one of the best movies, like Maze Runner.
8. Inception (2010)
- Director: Christopher Nolan
- Star cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy, Dileep Rao, and Cillian Murphy
- IMDb rating: 8.8/10
Inception is a 2010 science fiction action thriller movie that Christopher Nolan wrote, produced, and directed.
In the movie, Leonardo DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb, a skilled thief who engages in corporate espionage by penetrating his targets’ subconscious minds to get information.
While accomplishing this, a Japanese businessman hires Cobb and his crew to conduct Inception on his competition, which entails planting an idea into the man’s head rather than stealing it.
After starting the operation, the crew members quickly find themselves in a waking nightmare. Inception is one of the best movies like Maze Runner.
9. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)
- Director: Harald Zwart
- Star cast: Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, Robert Sheehan, Jemima West, Kevin Zegers, Robert Maillet, and Kevin Durand
- IMDb rating: 5.8/10
Based on the first Mortal Instruments novel by Cassandra Clare, “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” is a 2013 American supernatural teenage action movie.
Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, Robert Sheehan, Kevin Zegers, Jemima West, and Aidan Turner are among the cast members under the direction of Harald Zwart. The movie’s lead character is Clary Fray, a young girl who learns she is a Shadowhunter.
When Clary’s mother, Jocelyn, is abducted, the Shadowhunters help her rescue her. Clary learns along the process that she has her special skills.
Despite receiving unfavorable reviews from critics, “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” was a box office hit, earning over $90 million globally.
10. Love and Monsters (2020)
- Director: Michael Matthews
- Star cast: Dylan O’Brien, Jessica Henwick, Michael Rooker, Dan Ewing, Ariana Greenblatt, Ellen Hollman, and Tre Hale
- IMDb rating: 6.9/10
Love and Monsters is a must-see if you like movies like Maze Runner. O’Brien plays Joel Dawson this time around, a survivor of what is most appropriately referred to as the bug apocalypse.
The cold-blooded species all across the globe evolve into behemoths when chemical fallout from detonating an asteroid racing toward Earth showers chemicals back onto the earth.
These monsters wipe out the majority of mankind, but Joel can escape by settling in an underground community of skilled monster slayers. Joel, however, is not one of them.
When he hears Aimee, his high school sweetheart, on the radio, he goes 80 miles to be with her despite his inability to protect himself from the enormous creepy crawlies that now walk the Earth.
This unique journey is a delightful, humorous treat, even though it may appear like a formula for bug-based terror.
Joel makes his way through the crisis with the aid of a boy, a very devoted, extremely helpful dog, as well as the dynamic survivalist trio Clyde and Minnow. Love and Monsters puts a distinctive twist on a tested concept.
11. Mortal Engines (2018)
- Director: Christian Rivers
- Star cast: Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Hugo Weaving, Jihae, Ronan Raftery, Leila George, and Patrick Malahide
- IMDb rating: 6.1/10
Mortal Engines is a post-apocalyptic steampunk adventure movie written by Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens, and Fran Walsh and directed by Christian Rivers.
Hugo Weaving, Robert Sheehan, Jihae, Ronan Raftery, Leila George, and Stephen Lang are featured in the movie.
The movie shows a future in which a catastrophic occurrence has left the Earth in ruins. Cities now travel on wheels and rails to escape being crushed by the massive traction engines roaming the planet.
Despite receiving reviews from critics, Mortal Engines failed to meet its $100 million budget at the box office, earning just $36 million.
