The Maze Runner

Plot

A teenager wakes up inside an underground elevator with no memory of his identity. A group of male youths greet him in a large grassy area called the "Glade" enclosed by tall stone walls. The boys ("Gladers") have formed a rudimentary society with each assuming specialized tasks. Their leader, Alby, says that every boy eventually recalls his name but not his past. The boy learns that a vast Maze surrounding them may be the only way out. During the day, designated Runners search the Maze for an escape route, returning before nightfall when the entrance closes.

While in a competition with another boy named Gally, the boy suddenly remembers his name: Thomas. The next day, he is attacked by Ben, a Runner who has been stung by a Griever – deadly techno-organic creatures that roam the Maze at night. Ben is forced into the Maze and left to die, as there is no cure for his injury. Alby and Minho, the lead Runner, later retrace Ben's steps inside the Maze. Minho reappears at dusk dragging Alby, who is stung, but they are unable to reach the closing entrance in time. Thomas runs into the Maze to help, leaving all three trapped. Thomas lures a Griever into a closing passageway, causing it to be crushed. The trio manages to survive the night, returning the next morning.

The first-ever girl arrives in the elevator. She recognizes Thomas, though he cannot remember her. Thomas, Minho, and others enter the Maze, locate the Griever corpse, and remove a beeping mechanical device from inside it. Gally claims Thomas has jeopardized the fragile peace between the youths and the Grievers and wants him punished, but Newt, the group's second-in-command, instead designates Thomas as a Runner. Minho shows Thomas a hand-constructed model of the Maze based on previous exploration. The Maze's numbered sections open and close in a regular sequence. Thomas realizes that the device corresponds to a section within the Maze.

The girl, Teresa, has two syringes filled with an unknown substance. One is used on Alby, and he recovers from the Griever sting. Minho and Thomas venture back into the Maze with the device and discover a possible exit. That night, the Maze entrance does not close while others open, letting Grievers pour in. A massacre ensues as the Gladers struggle to fight back or hide. Alby, Zart, Clint, and several others are killed.

Afterwards, Gally punches Thomas and blames him for everything that happened. Thomas, who has been having disconnected memory flashes since arriving, stabs himself with a severed Griever stinger in an attempt to revive his memory. The others inject him with the last anti-venom. Unconscious, he recalls that he and Teresa worked for the organization that created the Maze, W.C.K.D.; the boys unknowingly have been test subjects for an experiment. Thomas awakens and shares this information with Newt, Minho, Chuck, and Teresa. Thomas then exposes himself and Teresa, confessing that they worked with W.C.K.D. and studied the boys for years.

Meanwhile, Gally has taken command and intends to sacrifice Thomas and Teresa to the Grievers to restore the peace. Several Gladers form a group and free them. They approach the Maze in an attempt to find an escape, while Gally and a few others refuse to leave. Fighting Grievers as they go, Jeff and several other teens are killed. The survivors eventually enter a laboratory strewn with corpses. In a video recording, a woman named Ava Paige explains that the planet has been devastated by a massive , followed by a pandemic of a deadly virus called the Flare. The teens learn that they were part of an experiment studying for a cure. Paige is seen shooting herself on the screen as the lab is attacked by armed men.

Gally suddenly appears with a gun. Having been stung by a Griever, he insists they must stay in the Maze and aims at Thomas, but is pierced through the chest by Minho's spear; Chuck is fatally shot as Gally's gun discharges. Masked armed men then rush in and take rest of the group to a helicopter. It flies over a vast desert wasteland and approaches a ruined city. The scene ends with the supposedly-dead scientists meeting in a room. Paige notes that the experiment is successful; the survivors are now entering .