Movie · 1986 · Adventure, Family, Fantasy · 1h 41m · PG · English
Curator score: 6.1/10 (643.5K ratings)
Where everything seems possible and nothing is what it seems.
Overview
Frustrated with babysitting on yet another weekend night, Sarah, a teenager with an active imagination, summons the Goblins to take her baby stepbrother away. When little Toby actually disappears, Sarah must follow him into a fantastical world to rescue him from the Goblin King. Guarding his castle is the labyrinth itself, a twisted maze of deception, populated with outrageous characters and unknown dangers.
Ratings
Curator score: 6.1/10
IMDb: 7.3/10
Letterboxd: 3.76/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 78%
Metacritic: 50
TMDB: 7.3/10
Director
Jim Henson
Production
Henson Associates, Lucasfilm Ltd.
Cast
David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, Toby Froud, Shelley Thompson, Christopher Malcolm, Brian Henson, David Shaughnessy, Ron Mueck, Timothy Bateson, Denise Bryer, Dave Goelz, Karen Prell, David Alan Barclay, Frank Oz, Michael Hordern, Steve Whitmire, Kevin Clash, Natalie Finland, Shari Weiser, Rob Mills
Where to watch
Netflix, Hulu, fuboTV, Peacock Premium, Night Flight Plus, Netflix Standard with Ads, Peacock Premium Plus
Curator Review
Verdict
A cult fantasy with unforgettable practical creatures, elaborate sets, and a playful-but-unnerving fairy-tale tone. It’s especially rewarding if you like imaginative worldbuilding, theatrical performances, and 1980s effects craftsmanship.
Best for
fans of dark fantasy and fairy-tale adventure
viewers who love practical effects and puppetry
people who enjoy campy, glam, offbeat 80s movies
families with older kids who can handle some weirdness
Skip if
you want a straightforward, tightly plotted quest movie
you dislike camp, musical flourishes, or heightened performances
you prefer modern CGI-heavy fantasy
you need a consistently warm or gentle family tone
Overview
Labyrinth is one of those films that feels like a fever dream built out of velvet, fog, and puppets. Jim Henson turns a simple rescue story into a strange coming-of-age fantasy, where the maze matters less as geography than as a test of confidence, desire, and self-definition. The practical creatures and sets still have real texture, and the movie’s oddball humor keeps it from ever settling into ordinary fantasy comfort.
Worth noting
David Bowie gives the film its dangerous sparkle, playing the Goblin King as equal parts seducer, trickster, and pop icon. Jennifer Connelly anchors the chaos with a believable mix of teenage frustration and determination, which helps the movie feel emotionally grounded even when it gets gloriously bizarre. The result is a film that is often funny, sometimes creepy, and always committed to its own dream logic.
Bottom line
It’s not a perfect movie in the conventional sense, but that’s part of the appeal. Labyrinth is remembered because it is singular: a handmade fantasy with attitude, atmosphere, and a little menace. If you want polished, this is not that; if you want memorable, weird, and visually inventive, it absolutely delivers.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Cecily (3.5★) · 10163 likes
Weird movie but if Jareth came up to me and said to fear him, love him, do as he says and he would become my slave..... my parents would have to report me missing the next day cuz I'd be in the castle getting that goblin dick
stevie 🛸 (5★) · 8136 likes
the „me? no im just a worm” line feels so personal
demi adejuyigbe (4.5★) · 6244 likes
okay you’ve all been going crazy about this movie for decades now and still no one ever told me about the solid 20-minute run of audible toots from prosthetic buttholes at the stinky fart swamp
Karsten (4★) · 5421 likes
damn bro we see it!
kait (4.5★) · 5006 likes
her not going inside to meet the worm’s missus pissed me off