Anyone who’s seen the first three Mad Max movies knows the drill by now. There will be fun post-apocalyptic fashion (chain mail if we’re lucky), a number of car chases, daring stunts, and, at the center of it all, a laconic, macho road warrior named Max Rockatansky. (Played this time around by Tom Hardy.) But before you chalk all this up to another testosterone-fueled day at the movies, you should know that new female characters played by Charlize Theron, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Zoë Kravitz, Riley Keough, Abbey Lee, and Courtney Eaton have the potential to flip certain action movie tropes on their head. In fact, Mad Max director George Miller enlisted the help of activist, feminist icon, and Vagina Monologues author Eve Ensler in order to ensure that Fury Road wasn’t just another story about helpless female victims; it’s a story about empowered survivors.

There should be little doubt after the first few trailers that Theron’s rough and tumble character Imperator Furiosa is not to be trifled with. But action driving the film involves Furiousa (and Max) rescuing five former female captives with less intimidating names such as Toast, Fragile, and Splendid. Is this just another iteration of a worn-out trope of beautiful women as prizes and precious cargo? Splendid herself, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, says no. In an interview with Esquire, she raved about the opportunity to work on her character with Eve Ensler: