The Maze Runner (2014)

Dystopian drama for teens. 

A bunch of boys find themselves in a grassy glade surrounded by an ever-shifting maze that’s populated by killer alien robot monsters. A new child arrives every month with no memory of their prior life. When Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and then Theresa (Kaya Scodelario) appear, everything changes. 

It’s a fascinating premise but the wider story arc – explored across two further films (adapted from the novels by James Dashner) – is too silly to be believed. 

The characters are strong, though, and the interplay between them makes for the most engaging elements. It’s heavily influenced by Lord of the Flies and there’s a fair bit of interesting stuff about how the boys live together and the society they’ve evolved, with all its rules and rivalries. 

Genuinely impressive sound design and visuals also lift the film into something you can watch and enjoy more than once. The maze itself looks terrific and its physical presence and psychological influence are expertly conveyed.

The Revenant (2015)

Unrelentingly grim and bloody tale of North American frontiersman Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) trying to survive against all the odds. It’s 1823, and desperate, isolated communities of trappers and hunters battle it out in the frozen wilds. Everything horrible you can imagine happening to Glass happens to him. He witnesses his wife’s murder. He’s attacked and badly maimed by a bear. He’s nearly smothered to death by a crazed colleague. He’s buried alive. He witnesses his son’s murder. He’s swept away in river rapids. He’s shot at. He falls off a cliff into a tree. And he has to sleep inside his dead horse (after pulling out the innards). Plus, he’s intent on exacting his revenge – whatever the cost.

It’s not exactly cheerful. But the film has a primal intensity that keeps you hooked. The scenery is stunning. And DiCaprio is watchable, even beneath the beard, blood, filth and fur. Ultimately, though, it’s too harrowing and brutal to constitute entertainment. It’s unclear what you’re meant to take away from it. I was left feeling troubled and disturbed.