Director and co-writer R.T. Thorne's debut feature 40 Acres opens with a swift, intense action sequence, as a group of nomads invade the Freeman family farm in a war-ravaged future Canada. The Freemans efficiently take down the intruders, defending their home from potential marauders and demonstrating their prowess at surviving a bleak, unforgiving social order. It's an impressive opening for a movie that then slows down for the next hour or so, before picking up in an even more brutal finale.
In the meantime, Thorne relies on a lot of familiar post-apocalyptic elements, although he gives them enough distinctiveness that 40 Acres doesn't simply feel like a retread. Starting with its pointed title, the movie examines the place of people of color in this ruthless world, where they have to fight even harder than before against oppressive forces.
Family matriarch Hailey (Danielle Deadwyler) is a military veteran and the descendant of former slaves, who moved to Canada to establish the sprawling homestead that has now been in the family for more than 150 years. Her First Nations husband Galen (Michael Greyeyes) is a fellow veteran who's proud to pass on his native language to his children.
Those details trickle out via periodic flashbacks and expository conversations, and it takes a while to understand the relationships among the Freemans, who run their family farm like a military outpost. Hailey in particular is utterly merciless, which makes life difficult for her teenage son Manny (Kataem O'Connor), who longs for human connection beyond his immediate family. The dilemma of living versus merely surviving is common in post-apocalyptic stories, and 40 Acres doesn't have much new to say about it. But Thorne makes it palpable for these characters, and the emotional anguish of both parents and children feels genuine.
There's a lot of brooding and glaring in 40 Acres' middle hour, as Manny sneaks off on his own and Hailey and Galen worry about the continued viability of the farm. The movie takes place 14 years after a pandemic killed off all livestock and made it extraordinarily difficult to grow crops, which led to civil war and famine. There are only sporadic reports from the outside world, but it appears that small farms like the Freemans' are the last vestiges of civilization, which makes them an appealing target.
Hailey hears troubling reports over the radio about other nearby families going missing, and eventually she gets word that a roving band of cannibals is behind the attacks. Thorne treats this potentially lurid development with the same solemnity as everything else in the film, and it's sometimes frustrating that 40 Acres never fully embraces its exploitation-friendly premise. Thorne previously explored a different kind of post-apocalyptic world as the creator of Hulu's deeply corny YA dystopian series Utopia Falls, and here he swings a bit too far in the other direction, draining some of the excitement from the well-crafted action scenes.
There are still visceral thrills in the climactic battle, including an impressive set piece in the darkened house, lit only by muzzle flashes. As she did in the underrated 2019 revenge thriller The Devil to Pay, Deadwyler conveys her character's grim, unrelenting determination, making for a believably formidable action hero. Greyeyes has his powerful moments as well, but O'Connor and the other younger stars are occasionally outmatched.
Whatever political message that Thorne might be reaching for eventually falls by the wayside, and 40 Acres is ultimately nothing more than a solid post-apocalyptic thriller. It eventually delivers on the promise of that attention-grabbing opening set piece, and that's enough to see it through to the end. ♦
40 Acres
Rated R
Directed by R.T. Thorne
Starring Danielle Deadwyler, Michael Greyeyes, Kataem O'Connor
