The Big Picture

• Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga focuses on action and physicality, with minimal dialogue for intense visual storytelling.
• Anya Taylor-Joy's portrayal of a young Furiosa involves conveying emotions through eyes, not words, as she only has 30 lines of dialogue in the whole film.
• The prequel explores Furiosa's origins, her first encounter with Immortan Joe, and her journey to find strength and leadership in the Wasteland.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, directed by George Miller, is gearing up to be an eye-popping prequel to the beloved Mad Max franchise. The film focuses on the backstory of the formidable warrior Furiosa, originally portrayed by Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road. In a lengthy feature with The Telegraph, Miller shared that Anya Taylor-Joy, who steps into the younger version of Furiosa, has only about 30 lines of dialogue throughout the film. Similar to Fury Road, in which Tom Hardy's Max was the strong and silent type, the decision underscores the film’s reliance on visual rather than verbal storytelling, aiming to maintain the frenetic pace that the series is known for.

Miller’s choice to minimize dialogue highlights the film’s emphasis on action and physicality. It’s an approach that allows the audience to engage with the narrative through the intense expressions and dynamic movements of the characters, fitting for a film set in the high-speed, chaotic world of Mad Max. The epic 15-minute-long action sequence, which took 78 days to shoot, is a testament to the film’s commitment to groundbreaking stunt work and cinematic excellence. It was, however, a challenge for the lead actor to endure.

In an interview with The New York Times, Taylor-Joy said she would go “months” on the movie’s set without speaking a single line of dialogue. She added: “I’ve never been more alone than making that movie. I don’t want to go too deep into it, but everything that I thought was going to be easy was hard.

“I do want to 100 percent preface this by saying I love George and if you’re going to do something like this, you want to be in the hands of someone like George Miller,” Taylor-Joy said. “But he had a very, very strict idea of what Furiosa’s war face looked like, and that only allowed me my eyes for a large portion of the movie. It was very much ‘mouth closed, no emotion, speak with your eyes.’ That’s it, that’s all you have.”

What Is 'Furiosa' About?

The upcoming feature chronicles the origins of Furiosa, tracing her journey from being snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falling into the clutches of the Biker Horde led by the menacing Chris Hemsworth (Dementus). As she navigates life in the apocalyptic Wasteland, crossing paths with tyrants like Immortan Joe, Furiosa battles to find her way back home, all while uncovering her true strength and leadership qualities. The story will, in great detail, explore what shapes Furiosa into the warrior seen in Fury Road.

As fans of the franchise eagerly await the film’s debut, they can expect an immense action movie that not only provides a backstory for one of Mad Max: Fury Road's most intriguing characters but also sets a new standard for visual storytelling in action films. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is poised to be a standout addition to the Mad Max universe, offering audiences a unique cinematic experience that highlights the raw, unspoken intensity of its world and its characters in the only way it can - shiny and chrome.

Joining Taylor-Joy and Hemsworth is an ensemble cast including Tom Burke, Nathan Jones, and Angus Sampson, among others. Furiosa is scheduled to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival next week, with a theatrical release on May 24. Stay tuned to Collider for more.