Labyrinth (film) - Plot

Plot

The film opens with a barn owl watching a teenager, Sarah (Jennifer Connelly), reciting lines from a play called Labyrinth in a park. As Sarah struggles to remember the final line of her monologue, the town clock chimes seven o' clock and Sarah remembers she has to babysit her brother Toby. She rushes home and has a confrontation with her impatient stepmother.

Following her parents' departure Sarah realizes that her teddy bear, Lancelot, is missing from her room. She finds the toy in Toby's room and resentfully declares a wish that the goblins would take the baby away. Abruptly, Toby vanishes and a barn owl flies into the room, transforming into Jareth: King of the Goblins (David Bowie). Jareth tells Sarah that he will return her brother if she can solve his Labyrinth within thirteen hours. He transports Sarah and himself to the Labyrinth, then leaves Sarah to start her quest.

At the entrance of the Labyrinth, Sarah meets Hoggle, a grumpy and obstinate dwarf who refuses to help her. She advances through the labyrinth alone and overcomes a series of obstacles during her journey, including a Knights and Knaves logic puzzle, before eventually trapping herself in an oubliette. Jareth sends Hoggle into the oubliette to free Sarah and misdirect her back to the beginning of the labyrinth.

As they travel Sarah and Hoggle encounter a group of goblins tormenting a gentle beast named Ludo, whose roars frighten Hoggle and lead him to flee. Sarah saves Ludo and travels with him but the two become separated. A group of revelers with detachable limbs called the Fire Gang harass Sarah until Hoggle reappears to rescue her. Shortly afterward they pass through the Bog of Eternal Stench where they are reunited with Ludo and add another to their party: Sir Didymus, a chivalrous, fox-like knight who guards the bridge that leads away from the bog.

Hoggle offers Sarah a peach that Jareth had ordered him to give her. Upon biting the peach, Sarah falls into a trance and finds herself in a dream-like ballroom where Jareth attempts to seduce her. The sound of a striking clock reminds Sarah that she needs to save her brother and she frees herself from the vision to resume her quest. She rejoins Ludo and Sir Didymus, and the three of them approach the Goblin City that surrounds Jareth's castle. Hoggle appears and disables a giant robot that guards the city gate. Sarah forgives Hoggle for his earlier betrayal and continues with all her friends through the city, successfully defeating the soldiers of the goblin army who have been sent to stop them.

Upon reaching Jareth's throne room, Sarah decides to go forward alone. She finds Jareth and Toby in a vast, stair-filled room, (inspired by M. C. Escher's Relativity), and attempts unsuccessfully to find a path to reach her brother. She is interrupted by Jareth, who confronts her face-to-face and asks her to abandon her quest in order to stay with him forever. Sarah recites the complete monologue from the beginning of the film, concluding with the formerly elusive line, "You have no power over me."

Jareth, acknowledging defeat, returns Sarah and Toby to their home. Sarah discovers she can see Hoggle and the rest of her friends in her bedroom mirror. Sarah tells her friends she needs them, summoning them into her room. The film closes as Sarah and the creatures celebrate her victory. Outside the bedroom window, a barn owl briefly watches the party before flying away.