7 Movies Like The Maze Runner for Teen Survival Fans
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7 Movies Like The Maze Runner for Teen Survival Fans

7 Movies Like The Maze Runner for Teen Survival, Dystopia, and Mystery

Key takeaways

  • The Hunger Games and Divergent are the closest picks for YA dystopian action.
  • The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure continue Thomas’s story.
  • Boy 7 explores memory and identity, while Cube focuses on deadly enclosed-space puzzles.
  • Ready Player One is a looser match for viewers who enjoy challenges in a designed world.

Table of contents

If you want movies like The Maze Runner, start with The Hunger Games for high-stakes teen survival or Divergent for a young hero challenging a controlled society. Both share the series’ YA dystopian energy, though neither has the same maze-centered mystery. For more of Thomas’s story, watch Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials and Maze Runner: The Death Cure.

The best match depends on what you liked most. The Maze Runner combines young characters, lost memories, a dangerous enclosed world, and the question of who built it and why. 20th Century Studios describes the film as an action, adventure, science-fiction, suspense, and thriller story, while Apple’s synopsis highlights the Glade, the maze, and Thomas’s search for answers.

Closest matches for YA dystopian action

1. The Hunger Games (2012)

Katniss Everdeen is forced into a televised fight for survival in a society ruled by an authoritarian government. Like The Maze Runner, the film puts young characters under extreme pressure and makes survival part of a larger struggle against a powerful system.

Choose this if you want the combination of teen leads, danger, and rebellion. The main difference is the focus: The Hunger Games centers on a public competition and its political consequences, rather than a group trying to solve an enclosed-world mystery.

2. Divergent (2014)

In Divergent, Tris lives in a society organized around strict factions and must work out where she belongs. Its appeal for Maze Runner fans lies in the young protagonist navigating a rigid system while uncovering reasons to question it.

It’s a good next pick if you enjoyed the dystopian setting and coming-of-age story as much as the action. Unlike The Maze Runner, it is less about escape from a physical trap and more about identity and social control. The story continues in Insurgent (2015) and Allegiant (2016).

3. The 5th Wave (2016)

This post-apocalyptic thriller follows a teenage girl trying to survive in a world devastated by a series of attacks. It shares The Maze Runner’s young perspective, urgent survival stakes, and uncertainty about what forces are shaping the crisis.

Try it if you’re after another teen-led story in a dangerous, unstable world. Its threat is broader than the Glade and its maze, so it offers less of the contained puzzle-solving that defines the first Maze Runner film.

If you want more of Thomas’s story

4. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015)

The closest movie to The Maze Runner is its direct sequel. The Scorch Trials picks up after the events of the first film and follows Thomas and the other survivors into a new phase of danger.

Watch this first if you haven’t seen it: the story continues directly, so it’s not a standalone alternative. It’s the natural choice for viewers who want to stay with the same characters and see what comes after the Glade.

5. Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)

The Death Cure concludes the main film trilogy, following The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials. It’s the right pick if you want the story’s final chapter, rather than a new film with a similar premise.

For the clearest experience, watch the series in release order:

  1. The Maze Runner (2014)
  2. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015)
  3. Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)

That order also follows the films’ story progression.

For memory-loss mysteries and dangerous experiments

6. Boy 7 (2015)

This Dutch-language dystopian thriller is a less obvious recommendation, but it may work for viewers drawn to The Maze Runner’s questions about identity, memory, and hidden control. The similarity is thematic rather than a close match in tone or style; it isn’t another Hollywood YA action franchise.

Pick Boy 7 if the mystery behind the characters’ circumstances interested you more than the chase scenes. It’s a useful change of pace, though viewers looking for a large-scale action adventure may prefer The Hunger Games or Divergent.

7. Cube (1997)

If the maze itself was your favorite part, Cube offers a much darker kind of enclosed-space thriller. Its setup centers on people trapped in a dangerous, puzzle-like environment, making it a closer match for the “find a way out” element than for the teen dystopian tone.

The distinction matters: Cube is more horror-leaning and adult-oriented than The Maze Runner. Choose it for claustrophobic tension and lethal puzzles, not for a similar YA coming-of-age story.

A looser match for designed-world challenges

Ready Player One (2018)

Ready Player One follows a young protagonist through a virtual world built around challenges and discovery. That makes it a possible choice if you liked watching Thomas and the Gladers work through a world designed to test them.

The resemblance is broad, though. Ready Player One is a virtual-reality adventure, not a survival dystopia, and its tone is more playful. It suits viewers looking for a young hero solving challenges, rather than the darker atmosphere of The Maze Runner.

Which movie should you watch next?

  • For teen survival and rebellion: The Hunger Games
  • For a young hero confronting a controlled society: Divergent
  • For post-apocalyptic teen action: The 5th Wave
  • For the direct continuation: The Scorch Trials
  • For memory and identity themes: Boy 7
  • For deadly enclosed-space puzzles: Cube
  • For challenges in a designed world: Ready Player One

If you haven’t completed the original trilogy, continue with The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure first. If you’re looking for a separate series with the closest YA dystopian feel, try The Hunger Games or Divergent.