What age is The Maze Runner appropriate for?

Rated PG-13 in the US. 13, alone or with a parent; 12 in France. The whole movie, watched in full: what's in it, and how to talk about it with your child.

Why is The Maze Runner not recommended under 13?

What's in it: the official rating, first; teenagers killed by monsters; a boy stabbed, an execution averted; locked in without memory, in the dark. The detail, fact by fact, is in the zinema guide, which reads the work itself (images, sound, dialogue).

zinema · movies · what age

The Maze Runner: what age is it for? 13, alone or with a parent

From 13, alone or with a parent.

Movie · 2014 · 1 h 54 · action, mystery, science fiction, thriller

YRS

The trailer

Alone, or with you

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not yetwith an adult, or to talk about afteralone

The official US rating is PG-13, and we never go below it. Alone from 13, and not before, even with an adult.

Official US rating: PG-13. In France, zinema would say 12.

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What it's about

A teenager with no memory of his past finds himself among a group of boys living in a walled enclosure surrounded by a massive, ever-changing maze. As he struggles to adapt to their rules and society, he begins to uncover clues that may lead to escape and the truth behind their confinement.

Why 13

The official rating, firstRated PG-13 in the US (parents strongly cautioned, some material may be inappropriate for children under 13). zinema never goes below the country's rating: it explains it.
rule
Teenagers killed by monstersThe Grievers, half spider, half machine, attack at night, sting and carry off boys from the group; several die, including a close friend of the hero, and the film does not spare them.
shown
A boy stabbed, an execution avertedAn infected teenager attacks with a knife and ends up killed; another is forced into the maze to die there. Bodies, wounded, and almost constant tension.
shown
Locked in without memory, in the darkFour images in ten in darkness, jolts, some thirty swear words; boys with no memories and no adults, which speaks loudly to ten-year-olds and can worry them.
shown

What the movie brings

A group of teenagers organising themselves, with their rules and leaders, and a newcomer who challenges them.
Courage as a repeated choice: entering the maze when everything says not to.
A puzzle solved by looking, not listening: children love searching alongside the runners.

Watching it together

Before

Warn that boys die, not only monsters, and that the film ends without explaining everything: it is the first of a series.

After

at 13 and up

Thomas breaks the Gladers' first rule right at the start: was he right?

See the facts

A weapon shown or used●●● · shownmeasured

Death of a character●●● · shownmeasured

Long dark scenes, night, storm●●● · shownmeasured

Tense music or sound●●● · shownmeasured

Abandonment, separation, confinement●●○ · shownmeasured

Creature, monster, strong villain●●○ · shownmeasured

Disaster, destruction, war●●○ · shownmeasured

Fighting, brawls●●○ · shownmeasured

Frightening imagery●●○ · shownmeasured

Jump scares●●○ · shownmeasured

Kissing, romantic gestures●●○ · shownmeasured

Pace●●○ · shownmeasured

Smoking●●○ · shownmeasured

Swearing●●○ · shownmeasured

Visible injury, blood●●○ · shownmeasured

Alcohol●○○ · shownmeasured

Density of dialogue●○○ · shownmeasured

Insults, hurtful words●○○ · shownmeasured

Verbal threat or intimidation●○○ · saidmeasured

For the same age, on zinema

Drive – The Pretenders 17
Once Upon a Time 12, 11 with a parent
La Bataille de Gaulle : J’écris ton nom 13, 12 with a parent
Matchbox the Movie 13

The latest guides

A zinema reading from September 19, 2026 · the whole movie, watched in full · the age by zinema's rules for the US and France, and a human reading · report an error · how this guide is made