On September 19, 1985, cartoonist Alison Bechdel jokingly laid out a rule for picking movies: a film must include at least two named female characters who have at least one conversation with each other about something other than a man. It sounds simple, but a surprising number of films don’t clear the bar.  And when they don’t, it often means women exist more as part of someone else’s story than their own. This June, we’ll use the Bechdel Test as a jumping-off point to explore how films change when women get to exist as fully realized characters.

This Wednesday, we’re watching Mad Max: Fury Road, a film that proves a movie doesn’t have to be about a woman to feature a fully realized female character with agency. Widely considered one of the greatest action films ever made, it stars Tom Hardy as Max, a drifter caught in a brutal desert war, and Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa, a one-armed warrior on a mission to free a group of women from a tyrant’s control. What follows is a relentless, high-octane chase across the wasteland, defined by practical effects, stunning visuals, and action filmmaking at its peak.

But what makes Fury Road special isn’t just the spectacle. It’s the way Furiosa’s story stands alongside Max’s, not beneath it. Each character has clear purpose, perspective, and agency. The result is a film that shows just how much richer even an action movie can be when everyone gets to fully exist.

***This film is being presented as part of the Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library's Wednesday Movie Club, a weekly showcase of movies that matter for people who love movies.  Attendees will be invited to discuss the film immediately following the screening. Registration is not required.

Rating: R
Runtime: 2h
Production Year: 2015 
Cast: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Zoë Kravitz, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
Director: George Miller