#397: In this episode of GT Radio, Josué Cardona is joined by Lara Taylor and Link Keller to unpack the spooky-adjacent indie film Dave Made a Maze. What starts as a conversation about creative set design and cardboard gore quickly turns into a deeper discussion about feeling stuck in life, unfinished projects, relational dynamics, and why maze metaphors keep showing up in stories.
Link introduces the film as a thematically rich but approachable horror comedy, while Lara praises its creativity and inventive kill scenes. Josué, however, struggles with the movie—not because of what it does, but because of what it doesn’t do. For him, the film feels full of missed potential, especially given how relatable Dave’s core struggle is: feeling broken, unaccomplished, and lost in his own life.
The group digs into Dave as a character—his self-perception as someone who never finishes anything, his reliance on others, and how the maze literalizes his internal experience of being trapped. They debate whether the film meaningfully resolves Dave’s arc, or whether it simply gestures toward insight without fully earning it. This includes a close look at the surreal kitchen scene, where Dave and his partner replay moments from their relationship while the world around them slowly turns into cardboard.
Lara frames the maze as an instantly recognizable metaphor from therapy: many people feel trapped without knowing exactly why, even when there is a way forward. Link explores the idea of mazes versus labyrinths, monsters versus internal shadows, and why stories so often insist on placing a Minotaur at the center of confusion. The Minotaur in Dave Made a Maze sparks discussion about whether monsters represent specific struggles, generalized fear, capitalism, internalized shame—or simply the narrative rule that “if there’s a maze, there must be a monster.”
The conversation also branches into how perspective shapes experience, highlighted by the film’s “perspective room,” where characters literally see the same space differently. For Josué, this is one of the film’s strongest moments, emphasizing how people can share an environment but live entirely different realities.
Throughout the episode, the hosts wrestle with questions of obligation, support, and agency. Is helping someone through their maze an act of care—or a burden unfairly placed on others? Is Dave’s partner a collaborator, a caretaker, or simply underwritten? And when is it okay to walk away from someone else’s maze entirely?
Ultimately, the episode treats Dave Made a Maze as a catalyst rather than a conclusion: a film that may be paper-thin in places, but still sturdy enough to hold meaningful conversations about being stuck, cutting through walls, and recognizing when the maze itself might not be as solid as it seems.
Characters / Media Mentioned
Themes / Topics Discussed
Relatable Experiences
Join the conversation on the GT Forum at https://forum.geektherapy.org, or connect with the Geek Therapy Network through the links at https://geektherapy.org.
What does the maze represent in your own life right now?
Is your monster something external, internal, or both?
When is it worth entering someone else’s maze—and when is it okay to walk away?
