Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

image for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

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Not suitable under 15; parental guidance to 16 (extreme violence and themes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
  • a review of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 28 May 2024.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 15 Not suitable due to extreme violence and themes.
Children aged 15–16 Parental guidance recommended due to extreme violence.
Children aged 17 and over Ok for this age group, though some viewers may find the film disturbing.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Classification: MA15+
Consumer advice lines: Strong violence and injury detail
Length: 148 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

In a post-apocalyptic world, Australia is a nuclear wasteland and humanity has descended into primal tribes led by sadistic warlords, fighting over the remaining resources of water, food, fuel and weapons. A young Furiosa (Alyla Brown) belongs to the Green Place of Many Mothers – the last place where there is an abundance of food and fresh water. Raiders from the Biker Horde, however, discover the Green Place when they capture Furiosa and take her back to their leader Dr Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). Furiosa’s mother Mary (Charlee Fraser) pursues the bikers and manages to kill Furiosa’s captors before they are able to reveal the whereabouts of the Green Place. Dementus, however, manages to capture Mary and forces Furiosa to watch her death by crucifixion. Dementus then keeps Furiosa and brings her up as his daughter.

The Biker Horde are at enmity with the War Boys, led by Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme), who possess the Citadel – a Wasteland settlement that has fresh water. The Biker Horde try to attack the Citadel but are repelled. They therefore try to take Gastown – another Wasteland settlement that supplies fuel to the Citadel. There, Dementus and Immortan Joe reach a trade deal, which includes the exchange of Furiosa. Immortan Joe takes her into what is a harem of women he keeps to produce children. Furiosa realises her danger there and manages to escape. She shaves her head and for many years works inside the Citadel as a mute boy.

Some years later, Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) works on a heavily armed supply tanker, called the War Rig, designed to withstand raider attacks on supply runs. On one such occasion, under heavy fire, many of the crew are killed and Furiosa and Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke) are the only survivors. The two become close and decide to return to the Green Place together. Their plans are again thwarted by Dementus, who chases after them and captures them both. Furiosa again watches the death of someone she loves but she manages to escape. She returns, alone, to the Citadel where she plots her revenge on Dementus.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Dystopian futures; Tribalism; Savagery; Warlords; Wars; Torture; Revenge.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is a lot of extreme violence throughout this movie, including many war scenes of shooting with rifles, guns, missiles, arrows, knifing with blades and scimitars, throwing of explosives, people set on fire, vehicle crashes, etc.

More disturbing scenes that might affect ages 15 and over include:

  • A man is seen bleeding from the mouth and coughing up blood. He is hung upside down and dogs are seen licking the blood from his face.
  • Mary is hit by an explosive and is seen on fire.
  • Dementus prises Furiosa’s eyes open to see her mother hung on a cross and killed with a knife across her throat.
  • A man is seen tied by his hands and feet with chains to four motorbikes. On command, the bikes roar away, pulling the man apart limb by limb. Dementus is given a ‘blood sausage’ to eat.
  • A man is given a chopped off finger wrapped in paper.
  • A man is trapped inside a torture machine, which screws into his head. He is thrown to the ground and is killed by the contraption.
  • Immortan Joe orders his men to pull Dementus’s chest armour off. This leaves his nipples bleeding.
  • Dementus crashes into a vehicle in which Furiosa and Jack are travelling. It tips upside down and they both appear dead. They aren’t dead, however, and are pulled out from the wreck. Jack is then tied to a motorbike by chains and dragged along the ground for hours. Dementus lets his dogs out to eat his dying body.
  • Furiosa is chained up by her already injured arm. She escapes by cutting her arm off, which is seen still hanging and dripping blood.
  • Furiosa’s final act of revenge includes tying Dementus up in chains, repeatedly hitting him, dragging him along behind a car, and tying him up in a tree to hang. She then uses his still-living body to act as fertiliser to grow a peach tree.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

  • The high level of violence makes this film unsuitable for this age group.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

  • The high level of violence makes this film unsuitable for this age group.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

  • The high level of violence makes this film unsuitable for this age group.

Thirteen and overinfo

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged thirteen and over, including the following:

  • Many very scary-looking characters. Immortan Joe has long white hair, black eyes, wears a Hannibal Lecter-type mask, and has breathing tubes and an oxygen tank on his back. The War Boys are all painted white with black eyes.
  • One of the War Boys is a dwarf. He is shot in the head during an attack and he looks like a dead child.
  • Furiosa is seen locked in a cage as a child.
  • A mother gives birth to a baby with one head and two sets of legs.
  • Furiosa has a dream in which she sees her mother, Dementus and other scary characters.
  • Furiosa is dragged along the ground, her body covered in maggots.
  • A dog is seen carrying a human foot in its mouth.

Product placement

  • None noted.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

  • The women are kept in a harem for Immortan Joe’s pleasure.
  • Furiosa, as a teenager, was approached by a man in the harem. He obviously intended to have sex with her but she fought him off and escaped.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • A painter is seen painting a mural of nude women – bare breasts are seen.

Use of substances

  • None noted.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Tits
  • Moron
  • Bastards.

In a nutshell

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a post-apocalyptic action-adventure movie. The film is a spinoff and a prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road and the fifth instalment of the Mad Max series. It shows the descent of 'man' into a brutal, sadistic, lawless state in which gangs, ruled by warlords, are prepared to do anything it takes to survive. The high level of violence makes it unsuitable for under 15’s and parental guidance is recommended for 15 to 16-year-olds.

The main message from this movie is that people need to cooperate and share resources in order to survive.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • A strong independent female lead character
  • Collaboration
  • Sharing of resources.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • The necessity of such extreme violence – would the movie be just as good if it didn’t display such acts of depravity?

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children the importance of keeping society a civil place to live in and to prevent the fall of man to its base level.