Mad Max: Fury Road: parents' guide
Best for ages 16 and up. Rated R for intense sequences of violence throughout, and for disturbing images.
A relentless, brilliantly made action film for older teens, essentially one long desert chase as a drifter and a rebel driver help a group of captive women flee a tyrant. The violence is almost nonstop: vehicles collide and explode, people are shot, stabbed, crushed and maimed, and some images are gruesome. The women were held as the warlord's sexual slaves, which is clear though never shown, and a pregnant woman dies along with her baby. There is little profanity and no sex scenes, though there is partial nudity. Best for 16 and up who can handle grim, disturbing imagery.
What's in it
Violence
StrongConstant vehicular combat with shootings, stabbings, crushings and explosions. A face is partly torn away, captives are bled for transfusions, and a dying woman's baby is cut out offscreen. The plot centers on women escaping sexual slavery; rape is implied, never shown.
Language
ModerateVery little, and much is lost under engine noise: one f-word by one count, slang such as "bollocks" and "schlanger," and the invented insult "smeg."
Sex and nudity
ModerateNo sex scenes, but the escaped wives wear scant, sheer clothing, nursing women hooked to milking machines appear partly bare, and a naked woman is seen from the side and behind at a distance.
Drinking, drugs and smoking
ModerateNo drinking or smoking. Young fighters spray chrome paint into their mouths before suicidal attacks, which reads as huffing, and blood taken from captives is treated almost like a drug.
Scary or intense scenes
StrongSustained, pounding intensity from start to finish, with grotesque, diseased characters, a cult of young fighters eager to die, sudden hallucinations of a dead child, and a dust storm that tears vehicles apart.
Sensitive topics
- Sexual assault
- Death of a child
Worth talking about
The War Boys are raised to believe dying for their leader is glorious. How do powerful people get young followers to accept that, and what changes Nux's mind?
On our lists
Similar picks around 16+
Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, Plugged In, moviemom.com, movieguide.org. The age is our judgment, not an official rating, and every family draws its lines differently: read the notes, not just the number. Spotted something we missed? Tell us. How we rate.