Story
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials begins with Thomas (Dylan O’Brian), Minho (Ki Hong Lee), Newet (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Frypan (Dexter Darden) and Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) safe in WCKD (‘Wicked’) headquarters. But their sense of safety is shattered when Thomas and his new friend Aris (Jacob Lofland) discover that WCKD is experimenting on young people to find a cure for a deadly disease called the Flare. This disease has wiped out most of the world’s population, turning those it infects into mutant zombies.
After their discovery, Thomas and his friends escape WCKD headquarters and head off across the scorched wastelands towards the mountains. They believe a resistance group known as the Right Hand is hiding there. On the way, they must fight off mutant humans and WCKD soldiers lead by the vindictive Janson (Aiden Gillen). Thomas and his friends then are befriended by a man named Jorge (Giancarlo Esposito) and a girl called Brenda (Rosa Salazar), who claim they can lead them to the Right Hand. But Jorge and Brenda betray Thomas and his friends to WCKD.
Themes
Human experimentation; destruction of civilisation; mutants; rebellion
Violence
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials has long and violent sequences and many violent deaths, including executions and suicide. There are scenes that show blood and gore throughout the movie. For example:
Sexual references
None of concern
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials shows some use of substances. For example:
- A teenage boy is injected with what’s called ‘a co*cktail of vitamins’.
- A doctor injects a teenage girl with a cure for a virus.
- A man coaxes an older teenage boy and girl to drink liquid from a flask so they can get into a dance club. After drinking the liquid the couple start to act like they’re drunk. They have hallucinations of monsters before they pass out.
Nudity and sexual activity
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials has some sexual activity. For example, one scene shows a group of young people dancing. A teenage girl wraps her arms around the neck of the boy she is dancing with and kisses him passionately on the mouth.
Product placement
None of concern
Coarse language
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials has some coarse language.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is the second instalment in the Maze Runner series of science fiction action movies based on James Dashner's best-selling young adult novels. The end of the movie is a real cliffhanger, aimed at leaving the audience hungry for the third movie in the series.
This movie deserves its M rating. It has even more intense violence, blood and gore, and scary images and characters than the first movie in the series. The movie is likely to be very disturbing for children. It’s unsuitable for young children and isn’t recommended for anyone under 15.
These are the main messages from this movie:
- Friendship and freedom are worth fighting and dying for.
- Sacrificing the lives of a few people to save the lives of many isn’t OK.
This movie cold you the chance to talk with your children about the following issues:
- Cooperation and trust: throughout the movie a group of young people must work together and trust each other to survive.
- Self-sacrifice: several of the main characters risk their own lives to protect their friends.
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