Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

***Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials*** is a 2015 American dystopian science fiction film directed by Wes Ball. It was theatrically released in the United States on September 18, 2015.

## Plot

A mother leaves her scared reluctant son, Thomas, with the scientist Ava Paige and troops of the organization WCKD. Thomas and other children are placed in a moving maze in a place known as the Glade as part of the scientific testing.

Years later, shortly after being rescued from the Maze[a], Thomas and the remaining Gladers are taken to a facility run by Mr. Janson. He says that the facility is a haven protecting them from the Flare virus and the "Cranks", and provides the supplies. Under Janson's care, they discover that they were not the only people in the experiment and that many more Mazes were constructed aside from their own.

Thomas becomes suspicious of Janson and investigates. With help from Aris, the first Maze survivor to arrive in the facility from another Maze, Thomas discovers that WCKD's leader, Ava, is still alive, and Janson is working for WCKD when they discuss experiments on the Immunes and that Janson has yet to find a resistance group in the mountains known as the Right Arm. The Gladers, including Aris, rescue Teresa and escape the facility to the deserted outside world, the Scorch. Janson sends WCKD troops to track them down.

The group arrives at an abandoned shopping mall and encounters the Cranks; humans zombified by the Flare virus. They escape, but Winston gets infected by one of them. When morning comes, they find the city in ruins and the WCKD still searching for them. Winston's infection becomes worse, which forces the others to let him kill himself to prevent his Crank transformation. While crossing the desert, the group takes shelter in the abandoned facility from a deadly lightning storm. Inside, they discover that it is filled with chained Cranks. The group meets Brenda and Jorge, who leads a dangerous band of survivors and use the restrained Cranks as guard dogs. Brenda and Jorge agree to take them to the Right Arm and abandon the other survivors.

WCKD locates the facility and storms the place. Thomas and Brenda are left behind, as the rest escape with Jorge. As Thomas and Brenda escape the Cranks, Brenda is infected. Thomas experiences a flashback of him and Teresa working for WCKD in which Thomas tries to warn Teresa of WCKD's plans, only for both to be apprehended by WCKD's soldiers. As Thomas and Brenda reunite with the rest of the group, Jorge interrogates Marcus, a survivor who secretly works for WCKD, into revealing the location of the Right Arm.

The group eventually arrives at a roadblock, where several people ambush them. However, two young women, Harriet and Sonya, recognize Aris and order their allies to cease their attack. They take the Gladers, Brenda, Jorge, and Aris to the Right Arm's outpost camp, where other immune survivors are present. Vince, who leads the Right Arm, greets them. As Brenda's infection gets worse, Vince threatens to shoot her, only to be stopped by Mary Cooper, a former WCKD scientist who reveals that Thomas was their informant, due to him becoming disillusioned with WCKD and having helped the Right Arm to take down WCKD's illegal major operations ever since.

As Mary halts Brenda's infection by using an enzyme cure, Mary explains that the enzyme must be harvested from an Immune's body, not manufactured, and that arguments over the methods of manufacturing the cure with Ava led to Mary's departure from WCKD. Teresa calls WCKD to their location since she still believes that WCKD's motivations are good, which leads to them being attacked by WCKD. Soldiers quickly overwhelm the rebels and line up the survivors in front of Ava Paige and Janson, who arrive in a Berg (a very large aerial vehicle employed by WCKD as transportation). Teresa explains to Thomas that she got her memories back from WCKD whilst with Janson. Mary is shot and killed by Janson, and WCKD troops take the immune survivors, including Minho, Aris, and Sonya. With only a fraction of the survivors left at the site, Thomas plans to get back to WCKD.

## Cast

**Dylan O'Brien** as Thomas

**Kaya Scodelario** as Teresa

**Thomas Brodie-Sangster** as Newt

**Giancarlo Esposito** as Jorge

**Aidan Gillen** as Janson

**Ki Hong Lee** as Minho

**Barry Pepper** as Vince

**Lili Taylor** as Mary Cooper

**Patricia Clarkson** as Ava Paige