WE OFTEN THINK the word “apocalypse” refers to an “end of days” scenario. While that is one usage, it’s incomplete. The Greek root, apokálypsis, is defined as revelation, or an unveiling. It’s often used in prophetic terms, as in the biblical book of Revelation. An apocalypse doesn’t mean destruction so much as laying bare humanity’s underlying truths.
This year, George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road, one of the best post-apocalyptic films in a series that helped define the genre, turns 5. Miller’s Mad Max movies are fascinating not just because of their creativity and economical storytelling, but also for how they address the revelatory nature of apocalypse, both in humanity’s sinful nature and its capacity for selflessness.
The Mad Max films happen in a violent wasteland that Miller shows as the direct result of humanity’s greed and recklessness. Fury Road advances that revelation, altering the series’ attitude from cynicism to hope. Fury Road’s message of renewal, and prophetic undertones, makes it a perfect movie for uncertain times.
In the film, our long-suffering hero Max (played by Tom Hardy) wanders a post-apocalyptic desert in a future defined by violence and scarcity. He’s captured by the soldiers (called war boys) of Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), a tyrant who hoards precious water in his mountain lair.
Joe also has a harem of war brides, who try to escape him with help from sympathetic tanker driver Furiosa (Charlize Theron). When Joe discovers this, he sends a platoon of war boys to bring the women back; Max is brought along with the war boys, then escapes. Max goes on the run with Furiosa and the women, who hope to find safety with Furiosa’s former community, who live in a fertile desert oasis.
Fury Road starts from Max’s perspective, but Furiosa quickly emerges as the real protagonist. This shifts the focus of the film from Max’s self-preservation instincts to Furiosa’s selflessness. Given her backstory (she was taken as a child by Joe and made a life for herself in unbelievable circumstances), Furiosa should be just as cynical as Max, if not more so. However, the loss of the love she knew early in life hasn’t made her bitter but drives her to help others.
Miller’s previous Mad Max films are about the destructive effects of humanity’s sinful impulses. Our desire for power, selfish treatment of the earth, and refusal to change for the good of others brought about an unrecognizable hellscape. Fury Road, however, is a bright coda. If the other films reveal humanity’s propensity for evil, Fury Road reveals our potential for good. It reminds us that if we reject the dominant forces of sin and pursue justice, we can bring about a better world.
Abby Olcese is a freelance film critic and writer based in Missouri. You can find her on Twitter @abbyolcese.
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