Mazes and Monsters (1982)

IMDb plot summary: When a group of friends decide to take their role-playing gaming to another level, one of their own's mental instability begins to take it too far for him.

Directed by Steven Hilliard Stern. Stars Tom Hanks, Wendy Crewson, and David Wysocki.

Mazes and Monsters is a TV movie featuring Tom Hanks in his first lead role. He plays a college student who has a mental break during a tabletop roleplaying game (modeled after Dungeons & Dragons) and begins to believe he is the actual character. This made the rounds on TikTok for his infamously cringey final scene and take on roleplaying, but it wasn't quite as bad as that scene made it look like out of context. It's definitely got cheesy TV movie dialogue, but it's not being dogmatic about the evils of Dungeons & Dragons, which would have made this a very different story. Hanks is pretty good in his first feature, really embodying this character's fragile psyche and making us feel a little worried for his well-being right from the beginning. The ending definitely does lean into earnestness in a way that is a little eye-rolly, but it's just silly, not irritating. 

🎥 Mazes and Monsters (1982)

📊 Ranked #2919/4272 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 36

lost to Hamlet (#2112 → #2113)

beat Captain January (#3214 → #3351)

lost to The TV Set (#2652 → #2649)

beat Born Reckless (#2939 → #2971)

beat Enemy of the State (held at #2800)

lost to Uptight (#2727 → #2652)

lost to Bill Cunningham New York (#2766 → #2717)

beat Mission: Impossible III (#2783 → #2749)

lost to Dr. Seuss on the Loose (#2774 → #2789)

beat Ace High (#2779 → #2790)

beat Adam (#2777 → #2884)

lost to UHF (#2776 → #2722)