As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland they come across the Citadel presided over by The Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home. A film by George Miller, starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Alyla Browne, and Tom Burke.
FURIOSA
A MAD MAX SAGA
George Miller
(2024)
Set before the events of MAD MAX: Fury Road, after the world fell apart due to a depletion of fossil fuel supplies, triggering constant energy shortages, societal breakdown, and lawlessness, ultimately culminating in complete societal collapse and nuclear war. The survivors adapt to a harsh and lawless existence, scavenging for resources, navigating dangerous territories, and facing threats from various factions and individuals vying for power and survival.
However, there is a hidden place known as the Green Place, inhabited by the Vuvalini of Many Mothers. Here, young Furiosa (Alyla Browne) lives with her mother Mary Jabassa (Charlee Fraser). It is the only place capable of producing crops and maintaining a population of settlers. One day, while Furiosa and her friend venture out into the wasteland, they encounter a gang of marauders.
In the Mad Max universe, the Vuvalini are a matriarchal tribe descended from the Many Mothers who once lived in the Green Place, a fertile area outside the Citadel. The Vuvalini are portrayed as a group of strong, resourceful, and environmentally conscious women who value motherhood and the preservation of life. They are skilled fighters and are determined to protect their way of life and the seeds they have preserved from the old world.
Determined to protect the secrecy of the Green Place, Furiosa sneaks to cut off their motorbike’s fuel line. But her plan backfires. The gang abducts her, hoping to bring her to their leader, Biker Horde Warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). Mary, alerted by the emergency whistle Furiosa produced before capture, quickly follows the marauders’ trail. It’s imperative no one discovers the Green Place, this haven known as the place of abundance. Mary picks off the marauders one by one with her sniper. Unfortunately, one escapes and reaches Dementus’ camp.
Dementus is the warlord leader of the Biker Horde, riding a chariot made from three motorcycles. He is boisterous, brazen, darkly humorous, and morally bankrupt. He has a wild immaturity, sometimes resembling a stubborn child who is stomping his feet wanting something, but causing immense destruction instead. His name was first mentioned in the Mad Max video game released in 2015, as a rival warlord to Immortan Joe’s son Scabrous Scrotus.
Mary sneaks into the camp and rescues Furiosa. In their escape, Dementus and his gang follow, capturing Mary. She attempts to buy time for Furiosa’s escape, but Furiosa, unable to abandon her mother, returns. Only to witness Mary being tortured by Dementus’ men, demanding the location of the place of abundance. Mary resists, ultimately meeting her demise. Dementus, in a twisted turn, keeps Furiosa as his own daughter.
Dementus and his horde encounter a War Boy, who tells them abou
t a place of abundance and leads them to the Citadel. Dementus tries to rally its people to overthrow their leader. The leader, revealed to be the fearsome Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme), strikes terror into Dementus’ heart when he orders his War Boys to attack Dementus and his horde. Dementus and a few of his men escape the Citadel with young Furiosa.
Dementus orders members of his horde to disguise themselves as War Boys after stealing of Joe’s War Rigs. His plan proves successful, allowing them to infiltrate and take control of Gas Town. Dementus returns to the Citadel to negotiate with Immortan Joe. Young Furiosa catches Immortan Joe’s eye, and he agrees to increase food and rations for Dementus. In exchange, Dementus must leave Furiosa and the Organic Mechanic (Angus Sampson) at the Citadel. Immortan Joe, with a twisted motive, desires Furiosa as a wife to bear him a healthy child.
Young Furiosa stages a daring escape from the room where Immortan Joe locks all his wives. The disappearance goes unremarked by Immortan Joe. Perhaps his vast number of wives makes him oblivious to her absence. Regardless, young Furiosa remains within the Citadel, disguised as a mute boy with no name, assisting in the construction of a War Rig.
Years passed. Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) hitches a ride on Joe’s War Rig driven by the legendary driver Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke), heading to Gas Town. Her plan is to escape using a motorcycle she secretly stashed under the rig. The Rig is ambushed by rogue members of the Dementus Horde. Praetorian Jack and Furiosa are the sole survivors. Awed by Furiosa’s ruthless combat and survival skills, Praetorian Jack offers to teach her everything there is to know about the wasteland, promising her freedom to go anywhere after she learns all of his lessons.
Directed by Australian filmmaker George Miller, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Nico Lathouris, FURIOSA serves a prequel of MAD MAX: Fury Road, detailing the early life of the renegade warrior Furiosa before her iconic encounter and team-up with Mad Max. The film also depicts how Furiosa loses her left arm and why she cut her hair.
While both Alyla Browne and Anya Taylor-Joy deliver captivating performances as young and adult Furiosa, Chris Hemsworth’s portrayal of Warlord Dementus falls short. He fails to inspire the same level of fear as Immortan Joe, whose chilling presence transcends the mask obscuring half his face.
Dementus’ lack of screentime is another drawback. The focus on Furiosa leaves the audience in the dark about his whereabouts and plans. He makes sporadic reappearances, and his excessive dialogue in the final scene regarding his motivations feels irrelevant and ultimately fails to resonate with the audience. However, I do like the detail of Dementus always carrying a weird teddy bear. It adds an unexpectedly endearing quirk to his character.
Ultimately, FURIOSA feels like a less impressive film compared to MAD MAX: Fury Road. It lacks the unpredictable thrills and relentless excitement that made its predecessor so captivating. Furiosa functions as an origin story, providing additional information about the character but not necessarily standing on its own. However, the film’s ending cleverly connects to the beginning of MAD MAX: Fury Road through well-placed montage sequences, creating a sense of continuity between the two films.
FURIOSA premiered at Festival de Cannes on 15 May 2024. The film is set for theatrical release in Australia on 23 May, and in the United States on 24 May.
