Democracy Dies in Darkness

‘Furiosa’ expands the mythic power of the Mad Max universe

An epic prequel starring Anya Taylor-Joy shifts this franchise into a whole other gear.

Review by
Anya Taylor-Joy stars in “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.” (Warner Bros. Pictures/AP)
5 min
(3.5 stars)

How did a young girl in the dystopian future grow up to become Imperator Furiosa, the fierce warrioress who took on the entire Wasteland in 2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road”? In “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” the fifth film in the franchise, director George Miller builds an epic prequel with Anya Taylor-Joy at the wheel, but also shifts into a different gear to weave an unexpectedly elegiac origin tale of survival and revenge.